A SELECT LIBRARY
OF THE
NICENE AND
POST-NICENE FATHERS
OF
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
SECOND SERIES
VOLUME XII
Leo the Great, Gregory the Great
T&T CLARK
EDINBURGH
__________________________________________________
WM. B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING COMPANY
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN
LETTERS AND SERMONS
OF
LEO THE GREAT
BISHOP OF ROME,
Translated, with Introduction, Notes, and Indices,
by the
REV. CHARLES LETT FELTOE, M.A.,
LATE FELLOW OF CLARE COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.
————————————
Except for such valuable help—chiefly however in the way of comment and explanation—as Canon Bright’s volume (S. Leo on the Incarnation) has supplied, both the selection and the translation of the Letters and Sermons of Leo Magnus are practically original. It is even more difficult to feel satisfied oneself, than to satisfy others either with a selection from a great man’s works or with a translation of them. The powers of Leo as a preacher both of doctrine and of practice are very remarkable, and in my anxiety to keep within the limits imposed by the publishers, I have erred in presenting too few rather than too many of the Sermons to the English reader. Only those that are generally held genuine are represented, though several of the doubtful ones are fine sermons, and those translated are in most cases no better than those omitted. Even when the same thought is repeated again and again (as is often the case), it is almost always clothed in such different language, and surrounded with so many other thoughts of value, that every sermon has an almost equal claim to be selected.
With regard to the Letters, the series connected with the Eutychian controversy—the chief occupation of Leo’s episcopate—is given nearly complete, whereas only specimens of his mode of dealing with other matters have been selected for presentation. With one or two exceptions, however, I feel more confident about the Letters than about the Sermons that the omitted are less important than the included. I wish I could make even a similar boast about the merits of the translation.
The text rendered is for the most part that of the Ballerinii as given by Migne (Patrologie, Vol. LIV.), though a more critical edition is much to be desired.
Charles Lett Feltoe.
Fornham All Saints’,
Eastertide, 1894.
Introduction.
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Life.
The details of
Leo’s early life are extremely scanty and uncertain. It is
probable that he was born between 390 and 400 a.d. There is a tradition that his father was a
Tuscan named Quintian, and that Volaterræ The objection that
Prosper and Leo himself both speak of Rome as his patria does
not seem of sufficient weight to overthrow a tradition, which it is
somewhat hard to account for the existence of. To a native of
central Italy under the Empire, who had spent all his public life in
Rome, the Eternal city was equally patria, whether it was his
actual birthplace or not. At the same time there is no evidence
that Volaterræ any more than Rome or any other Italian city
can claim the honour with certainty. Wilberforce on
Doctrine On The Holy Eucharist, p. 246, quoted by
Bright.
During his early manhood the Pelagian controversy
was raging, and it is thought that the acolyte named Leo, whom
Augustine mentions in his letters on this subject as employed by pope
Zosimus to carry communications between Rome and the African church, is
the future pope. Under Celestine, who was pope from 422 to 432,
he was archdeacon of Rome, and he seems already to have made a name for
himself: for Cassian, the Gallican writer whom he had urged to
write a work on the Incarnation, in yielding to his suggestion, calls
him “the ornament of the Roman church and of the Divine
ministry,” and S. Cyril (in 431, the date of the Council of
Ephesus) appeals to Leo (as Leo has himself recorded in Letter CXIX.,
chap. 4) to procure the pope’s support in stopping the ambitious
designs of Juvenal, bishop of Jerusalem. Under the next pope,
Sixtus (432–440), we hear of him in Prosper’s
Chronicon (under the year 439) again in connexion with
Pelagianism The chief error of
Pelagius (=Morgan), who is commonly thought to have been of
British origin, was, as is well-known, the denial of original or
birth-sin: see Article ix.
This is seen still more
clearly when we remember how completely he held the Western, if not
always the Eastern, Emperors in his power, and made them support and
carry out his wishes.
Returning to the year 444, besides consulting S.
Cyril and Paschasinus, bishop of Lilybæum, on the right day for
keeping Easter that year (a moot point which recurred in other years)
we find Leo still taking active measures against heresy, this time that
of the Manichæans The essential point in
the Manichæan heresy (which took its rise in the far East) was the
existence of two independent and conflicting principles:
good, whose kingdom was light and the spiritual world, and
evil, whose kingdom was over the elements of matter.
We now reach the famous Eutychian controversy, on which Leo’s chief claim to our thanks and praise rests: for to his action in it the Church owes the final and complete definition of the cardinal doctrine of the Incarnation. The heresy of Eutyches, as was the case with so many other heresies, sprang from the reaction against a counter heresy. Most of the controversies which have again and again imperilled the cause of Christianity, have been due to human frailty, which has been unable to keep the proportion of the Faith. Over-statement on the one side leads to over-statement on the other, and thus the golden mean is lost sight of. Eutyches, an archimandrite (or head of a monastery) at Constantinople, had distinguished himself for zeal during the years 428 to 431 in combating the heresy of Nestorius, who had denied the perfect union of the Godhead and the Manhood in the one Person, Christ Jesus. He had objected to the Virgin being called Theotokos (God-bearing), and said that Christotokos (Christ-bearing) would be more correct. This position, as involving two persons as well as two natures in our Lord, was condemned by the 3rd General Council, which met at Ephesus in 431, S. Cyril being its chief opponent. But Eutyches in his eagerness to proclaim the Unity of the Person of Christ fell into the opposite extreme, and asserted that though the two natures of Christ were originally distinct, yet after the union they became but one nature, the human being changed into the Divine. Eutyches appears to have been a highly virtuous person, but possessed of a dull, narrow mind, unfit for the subtleties of theological discussion, and therefore unable to grasp the conception of two Natures in one Person: and nothing worse than stupidity and obstinacy is brought against him by his stern but clear-headed opponent Leo.
The person, however, who first brought the poor
recluse’s heretical statements prominently into notice was much
more reckless and intemperate in his language. This was Eusebius,
bishop of Dorylæum, who took the opportunity of a local synod held
in Constantinople under the presidency of the gentle Flavian, in
November, 448, for other business, to petition against his former
friend and ally as a blasphemer and a madman. The synod, after
expostulating with the accuser for his violence, at last reluctantly
consented to summon Eutyches to an account. The summons was at
least twice repeated and disobeyed under the pretext first that he
might not leave the monastery, then that he was ill. At last
Eutyches yielded, and appeared accompanied by a crowd of monks and
soldiers and by Florentius, a patrician for whom the weak Emperor
(Theodosius II.) had been influenced by the eunuch Chrysaphius,
Eutyches’ godson, to demand a seat at the council. After a
long conversation, in which Eutyches tried to evade a definite
statement, he was at last forced to confess that our Lord was of two natures before the union, but that after
the union there was but one nature (see Letter XXVIII. (Tome), chap.
vi.). As he persisted in maintaining this position, he was
condemned and thrust out of the priesthood and Church-communion.
During the reading of the condemnation and the breaking up of the
conclave, Eutyches is alleged to have told Florentius that he appealed
to the bishops of Rome, Alexandria, and Jerusalem. Flavian, as
president of the council, thought it his duty to acquaint the bishops
of Rome and other Sees of the first rank with what had taken
place. For some unknown reason his letter to Leo was delayed, and
the appeal of Eutyches and a letter from the Emperor was the first
information that he received. As might be expected from
Leo’s conception of his office, he was much incensed at this
apparent neglect, and wrote to the Emperor explaining his ignorance of
the facts, and to
Leo the Great, p. 53
(S.P.C.K.): this writer should also be consulted (pp. 53 to 70),
on the merits and importance of the Eutychian controversy
generally. Of these Renatus is said
to have died at Delos on the way, and Hilary is the future pope of that
name. Julius of Puteoli must be carefully distinguished from
Julian of Cos, who was also a confidant of Leo’s. What happened to Julius
and Dulcitius is not known, though Leo does not express any disapproval
of their action.
At the time when the disastrous news arrived at Rome,
Leo was presiding over a council which he had convened; in violent
indignation he immediately dispatched letters right and left in his own
and his colleagues’ name. There is a letter to Flavian, of
whose death of course he was not yet aware; there are others to the
archimandrites and the whole church of Constantinople, to Julian,
bishop of Cos, and to Anastasius, bishop of Thessalonica. He used
all his influence to prevail on the Emperor to summon a fresh council,
this time in Italy,
At this moment the horizon suddenly brightened. Before the arrival of the legates, Theodosius was killed by a fall from his horse, and to the triumph of the orthodox cause, his sister, Pulcheria (the first Roman Empress), succeeded him. The whole aspect of things was soon changed. Chrysaphius was almost at once executed, and shortly afterwards Pulcheria married and shared the Eastern empire with Marcian, who was for bravery, wisdom and orthodoxy an altogether suitable partner of her throne.
Leo’s petition for a new Synod was now granted,
but the place of meeting was to be in the East, not in the West, as
more convenient for the Emperor. In the interval S.
Flavian’s body was brought by reverent hands to Constantinople
and buried in the church of the Apostles, and a still more hopeful sign
of the times—Anatolius and many other bishops signed the
Tome. Hitherto Leo had asked that both councils (that which had
condemned and that which had acquitted Eutyches of heresy) should be
treated as null and void, and that the matter should be discussed de
novo. Now, however, he shows a significant change of
front: the Faith, he maintains, is decided: nothing needs
now to be done but to reject the heretics and to use proper caution in
re-admitting the penitents: there is no occasion for a general
council. And consequently he sends bishop Lucentius and Basil a
presbyter as legates to assist Anatolius in this matter of rejection
and re-admission. But, as the Emperor adhered to his
determination, Leo was obliged to give way, and though still declining
to attend in person, sent bishop Paschasinus of Sicily and Boniface a
presbyter with written instructions to act with the former two as his
representatives; Julian of Cos, who from his knowledge of Greek and
Eastern affairs was a most useful addition, was also asked to be of the
number. Nicæa in Bithynia had been fixed upon as the
rendezvous, and there on Sept. 1, 451, 520 bishops assembled 110 others voted by proxy
in absence through their metropolitans (Gore).
At the second session (Oct. 10), the Tome was read by the Imperial secretary, Veronician, and enthusiastically received: “Peter has spoken by Leo,” they said. But objections being raised by the bishops of Palestine and Illyria that the twofold Nature was over-stated, its final acceptance was postponed for a few days, that a committee which was nominated might reason with the dissentients.
At the third Session (Oct. 13), Dioscorus, who refused to appear, was accused by Eusebius and by general consent condemned, being deprived of his rank and office as bishop, and the Emperor having confirmed the sentence, he was banished to Gangra in Paphlagonia, and there three years later (in 454) died. His successor at Alexandria was the orthodox Proterius, who was however never recognized by a large portion of the Egyptian Church: even in the Synod of Chalcedon many of the Egyptian bishops refused to sign the “Tome” at the fourth session, on the plea that the custom of their church forbade them to act without the consent of the archbishop, who was not yet appointed, and the still surviving “Jacobite” schism originated with the deposition of Dioscorus.
The fourth session was held on the 17th, and the misgivings of the Palestinian and Illyrian bishops having been quieted in the interval, the Tome was adopted.
In the fifth session (Oct. 24), a difficulty arose over a definition of the Faith which had been composed, but did not satisfy the Roman legates with regard to Eutychianism. However a committee, which was appointed, took it in hand again, and the result of their labours was accepted as fully guarding against the errors both of Nestorius and Eutyches. The remaining sessions were occupied with less important matters, and with drawing up the canons of the Council, of which one—the 28th—was designed to settle the precedence of the patriarch of Constantinople (“New Rome” as it was called), and to give him a place second to the bishop of old Rome. Against this audacious innovation the Roman legates in vain protested; the bitter pill, enwrapped in much sugar, was conveyed to Leo in the synodal letter, and produced the most lamentable results.
The last meeting of the Council on Nov. 1 was graced by the attendance in full state of Marcian and Pulcheria. The Emperor delivered an address, and at its conclusion he and the Empress were vociferously applauded, Marcian being styled the “second Constantine.”
To return to Leo, we have letters from Marcian,
Anatolius, and Julian, all trying to carry off the difficulty of the
28th Canon under the triumph of the Roman views in other
respects. But Leo refused to be conciliated. The canon, he
maintains, is in direct violation of the decrees of Nicæa (in
which statement he makes an unpardonable Unpardonable in any case
from one in his position, but especially so, if he was really connected
with the church of Rome, as we have suggested, under Zosimus, in whose
time the confusion, already existing then, was completely cleared
up: see Gore’s Life, pp. 113 and 114. The Canon
itself professed only to confirm one already passed in 381.
Eutychianism still lingered on and caused disturbances
in various parts of the East, especially among the monks. In
Palestine, Juvenal, the bishop of Jerusalem, was deposed, and the
Empress Eudocia, Theodosius II.’s widow, who was living in
retirement in that city, was suspected of favouring the rioters.
Leo therefore wrote letters to her and to others,
Similar riots were reported in Cappadocia, where the monks were led by one of their number named George, in Constantinople itself, where the ringleaders were Carosus and Dorotheus, and in Egypt.
But before we narrate the final victory of the orthodox cause throughout Christendom against the Eutychians, there are two events in the political world, belonging one to the year 452 and the other to 455, to which reference must be made, as showing the remarkable prestige which Leo’s character had gained for him among all classes of society. When he was made pope we found him absent in Gaul mediating between rival generals. We now find him employed on still harder missions. Leo himself makes none but the slightest indirect allusion to either of these later incidents, but this silence is only characteristic of the man, in whom there is no trace of vain-boasting, and who consistently sank the personality of himself as well as of others in the principles and causes which absorbed him. There seems no reason, however, to doubt the substantial truth of what Prosper and others have related. In 452 Attila and the Huns, notwithstanding the defeat they had sustained from Aetius at Chalons, continued their devastating inroad into Italy. The whole city of Rome was paralysed with terror, and at last sent Leo with the Consular Avienus and the Prefect Tregetius to intercede with them. The meeting took place on lake Benacus, and Leo’s arguments, aided, it is thought, by rumours of threatened invasion at home, persuaded Attila to retire beyond the Danube, on condition of receiving Honoria with a rich dowry as his wife. This was the last time that Attila troubled the Romans: for he died the next year.
Less than three years after this successful encounter with the barbarian, in 455 Leo’s powerful services were again brought into requisition by the State. That year the licentious Valentinian was murdered at the instigation of an enraged husband, Maximus, who subsequently compelled the widow, Eudoxia, to marry him. Eudoxia, however, discovering the part Maximus had taken in Valentinian’s death, invited the Vandals under Genseric to invade Italy. Maximus himself was put to death before the invaders reached Rome: but, when they did arrive, the panic-stricken citizens again threw themselves into the hands of Leo, who at the head of the clergy went forth to meet the foe outside the city. Once more his intercessions in some measure prevailed, but not sufficiently to prevent the city being pillaged fourteen days.
We now return to more purely religious
matters. In 457 Marcian died (his wife having pre-deceased him
four years), and was succeeded by a Thracian, named Leo Styled
“Magnus,” like his great namesake, though with infinitely
less good reason.
His body was buried in the church of S. Peter’s, since which time it has been thrice moved to different positions, once towards the end of the 7th century by Pope Sergius, again in 1607, after the re-building of the church in its present form, and lastly in 1715. As “saint” and “confessor” from the earliest times, as “doctor of the church” since 1754, he is commemorated in the East on Feb. 18, in the West on April 11.
“It will not be wholly out of place,”
says Mr. Gore Life, p. 165.
The only writings of Leo which are usually accepted as authentic are his numerous Sermons and Letters. Certain anti-Pelagian treatises and a long tract upon Humility in the form of a letter to Demetrias, a virgin, have been ascribed to him; but the most important work of all the doubtful ones is a “Sacramentary,” which is one of the earliest extant of the Roman church, and is sometimes held to be Leo’s composition or compilation. Many of the collects and prayers which it contains bear a remarkable resemblance to his teaching, and may well have come from his pen: there is indeed good reason for the opinion that the Collect proper, which is a distinct feature of the Western Church, owes its origin to Leo.
As a theologian Leo is thoroughly Western in type,
being not speculative but dogmatic: no one was better suited in
God’s Providence to give the final
completeness to the Church’s Doctrine of the Incarnation than
this clear-sighted, unimaginative, and persistent bishop of Rome.
His theological position on the cardinal doctrines of the Faith is
identical with that of the Athanasian symbol, to the language of which
his own language often bears a close resemblance. With his theory
of the Pope as universal Ruler of the Church in virtue of his being the
successor of S. Peter, the vast majority of English-speaking people
will have but little sympathy: and yet it can but be admired from
an objective standpoint as a bold, grand, and almost original Milman attributes the
real initiation of the Papal theory to the imperious Innocent I., who
held the See of Rome at the beginning of the fifth century
(402–417).
Manuscripts.
I. At the Vatican. (α) Of the Sermons. (1) Codd. 3835 and 6 are two volumes in Roman Character of a Lectionary of about the 8th century; the second volume contains the “Tome” (which in the 8th and 9th centuries used to be read in the Church offices before Christmas): (2) 3828, a parchment (10th century), also a lectionary: (3) 1195, a parchment folio (11th century), a lectionary containing inter alia some of Leo’s homilies: (4) 1267, 8 and 9 of the same character (11th century): (5) 1270 contains the Sermon de Festo Petri cathedræ, (now xiv. in Migne’s Appendix), from which Cacciari restored Quesnel’s imperfect edition of it to its present state: (6) 1271 and 2 are also lectionaries: (7) 4222 in Lombardic characters (9th century), a lectionary: (8) 5451 in Roman characters (12th century), a lectionary: (9) 6450 parchment (12th century): a lectionary containing the sermon de Festo Petri cathedræ in the form found and printed by Quesnel; (10) 6451 similar: it contains sermons de Quadragesima and others: (11) 6454 similar.
(β) Of the Letters: these are mostly rather later (i.e. about 12th or 13th century): but (1) 1322 is of an older date, and contains besides the epistles, all the acts of the Council of Chalcedon: (2) 5759 is earlier than the 9th century; it used to belong to the monastery of S. Columban at Bobbio, and contains 31 letters: (3) 5845 is very ancient, and according to Cacciari, Lombardic: it contains 24 letters.
(γ) Letters and Sermons together: of these there are nine collections in the Vatican, of which 548 and 9 contain the sermon de Absalom which is condemned by Cacciari. The Regio-Vaticanus codex 139 is a fine collection of Leo’s works (12th century).
II. At other places: (1) The codex Urbinas 65 is thought to be a copy of the Regio-Vaticanus 139 made in the 14th century.
(2) Codex Grimanicus Grimanus, from
whom this Codex is named, was Cardinal of S. Mark, &c., in the 16th
century.
(3) The Thuanei; (α) 129 contains 123 letters: (β) 780 contains the Tome: (γ) 729 contains the spurious de vocatione gentium and some epistles.
(4) The Corbeienses are old.
(5) The Taurinensis 29 D. iv. is a fine 13th-century ms. containing 52 letters.
(6) The Florentinus codex belongs to the 13th century also.
(7) Ratisbonensis 113 DD. AA., in the monastery of S. Emeramus, contains 72 letters: it is said to date from about 750 a.d.
(8) The two Bergonenses are of 12th century, and contain 12 sermons.
(10) The Padilironenses contain 9 sermons and the Tome.
(11) There are three Patavini, of which two contain the Tome.
(12) Vallicellani: these are a number of 11th or 12th-century codices.
There are also the Veneti, the Vercellenses, the Veronenses, &c.
N.B. The foregoing account is taken from Schönemann’s Notitia Historico-Literaria (1794), and the translator has no means of knowing whether it is still correct (1890).
Editions.
1. The earliest important edition is P.
Quesnel’s (prêtre de
l’oratoire), Paris, 1675, Lyons, 1700, of which
Migne’s Dict. de Bibliogr. catholique says,
‘on reproche aux éditions du P.
Quesnel un grand nombre de falsifications, par lesquelles le P. Quesnel
se proposait notamment d’affaiblir l’autorité
pontificale That is to say, it upheld
the Gallican opinions; and so it was condemned and put on the Index in
1682. But being too valuable a work to be altogether suppressed,
Benedict XIV. enjoined the issue of (4), which rebutted and rectified
Quesnel’s false deductions in its notes and excursuses.
2. Œuvres très complètes de Saint Leon le Grand publièes d’après l’édition des frères Ballerinii et celle de Paschase Quesnel enrichées de préfaces, d’avertissements et de commentaires, suivies des exercices de Cacciari sur toutes les œuvres du saint docteur. Paris 1846.
3. P. Cacciari (a carmelite) brought out editions at Rome, 1751 and 1753–5, the latter with dissertations.
4. The edition of the brothers P. and H. Ballerinii (Jesuists), Venice, 1753–7, was a recension of Quesnel’s second edition with copious dissertations and notes.
5. H. Hurter, S. J., has published selections of Sermons and Letters in vols. xiv., xxv. and xxvi. of his SS. PP. opuscula selecta, 1871–4.
Translations.
1. Bright’s Leo on the Incarnation, London, 1862 (2nd edn. enlarged, 1886, in which the Tome is translated), consists of xviii. sermons translated and the Tome in Latin, with many valuable notes.
2. Reithmayr’s Bibliothek (1869) contains a German translation.
3. Dr. Neale’s History of the Alexandrian Patriarchate embodies a translation of the Tome.
4. Dr. Heurtley published a version of the Tome in 1886.
Authorities and Materials.
The chief ancient and medieval authorities for the life and times of Leo the Great are such works as Prosper’s, and Idatius’ Chronicles, Iornandes de rebus Geticis, Anastasius Bibliothecarius Historia de vitis Romanorum Pontificum (9th cent.), the Historia Miscella (10th cent.), &c.
Among lives may be mentioned the
following:—(1) La vie et religion de
deux bons papes Léon premier et Gregoire premier par
Pierre Du Moulin
(the younger: a protestant theologian), Sedan, 1650.
12mo. (2) Quesnel’s valuable
Dissertatio de vita et rebus gestis S. Leonis Magni, originally
included in his edition of Leo and re-printed by Migne in Vol. ii. of
his edition with the Ballerinii’s annotations and critical
remarks, Paris, 1675, Lyons, 1700. (3)
Histoire du Pontificat de Saint Léon le Grand
par Monsr. L. Maimbourg La Haye, 1687. (4)
The Bollandists’ Life by Canisius (Acta
Sanctorum), April, vol. ii. pp. 14–22.
(5) Alphonsi Ciaconii Vitæ Pontificum
(Tom. 1, pp. 303–314), Rome, 1677,
4to. (6) Le Nain de
Tillemont, Memoires pour servir à
l’histoire Ecclesiastique (vol. xv. pp.
414–832, 885–934), Paris, 1711. (7)
Letters.
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Letter I.
To the Bishop of Aquileia.
I. Through the negligence of the authorities the Pelagian heresy has been spreading in his province.
From the account of our holy brother and
fellow-bishop Septimus which is contained in the subjoined
letter It is to be supposed that
the letter of Septimus, bp. of Altinum, was sent with this
letter. See Lett. XVIII. n. 3. Viz. members of the
minor order as they are now called, subdeacons, exorcists, &c. It has been the rule at
least since the council of Nicæa (325) that the clergy should stay
in the church (or “diocese” as we should call it) of their
ordination, cf. Canons of Nicæa xxi. de his qui Ecclesias
deserunt et ad alias transeunt, and xxii. de non suscipiendis
alterius Ecclesiæ clericis. And we often find Leo
insisting on the observance of the rule. Inscientiam:
the general reading being scientiam, the sense of which is
not clear.
II. He orders a provincial synod to be convened to receive the recantation of the heretics in express terms.
Accordingly, lest this should be attempted any
further, and lest this pernicious habit, which owes its introduction to
certain persons’ negligence, should result in the overthrow of
many souls, by this our authoritative injunction we charge you,
brother, to give diligence that a synod of the clergy Sacerdotum: I
am in doubt as to what this term here includes, but think it probable
that all ranks of the clergy were to be summoned. The words
sacerdos and antistes in early ecclesiastical Latin very
often mean the bishop (episcopus) specifically
rather than the presbyter (sacerdos secundi
ordinis), because it was the bishop who offered the
“sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving” (i.e. the
Eucharist), and the presbyter only in his default; but the term
sacerdos does certainly often include the presbyters and also
the deacons (sacerdotes tertii ordinis) when in connexion with
the priests and bishops, and it seems likely that the whole body of the
clergy of the province would be summoned to the synod: see
Bright’s note 110: also Bingham, Antiq., Bk. II., chap.
xix., §§ 14, 15. Superbi
(proud): the epithet is well chosen and not a random one:
for pride and presumption are at the root of the Pelagian views as
birth-sin and baptismal grace: perfectionism is little in
accordance with Christian humility. For the same sentiment
cf. Prosper, de ingratis, v. 188.
And when they pretend to disapprove of and give up
all their definitions to facilitate evasion through their complete art
of deception, unless their meaning is detected, they make exception of
the dogma that the grace of God is given
according to the merits of the recipient. And yet surely, unless
it is given freely, it is not a gift The reader need hardly
be reminded that in the New Testament “grace” (Lat.
gratia, Gk. χάρις) signifies “a free
gift.” S.
IV. Prompt measures are essential.
You must take heed, therefore, beloved, and with great diligence make provision that offences which have long been removed be not set up again through such men and that no seed of the same evil spring up in your province from a doctrine which has once been uprooted: for not only will it take root and grow, but also will taint the future generations of the Church with its poisonous exhalations. Those who wish to appear corrected must purge themselves of all suspicion: and by obeying us, prove themselves ours. And if any of them decline to satisfy our wholesome injunctions, be he cleric or layman, he must be driven from the society of the Church lest he deal treacherously by others’ safety as well as forfeit his own soul.
V. The canons must be enforced against clerics who wander from one church to another.
We admonish you also to restore to full working
that part of the discipline of the Church whereby the holy Fathers and
we have often in former times decreed that neither in the grade of the
priesthood nor in the order of the diaconate nor in the lower ranks of
the clergy, is any one at liberty to migrate from church to
church: to the end that each one may persevere where he was
ordained without being enticed by ambition, or led astray by greed, or
corrupted by men’s evil beliefs: and thus that if any one,
seeking his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ A reminiscence of
Plebem:
this being the regular term for the “Laity” in early
Christian Latin. Sc. of the clergy.
Letter II.
To Septimus, Bishop of Altinum.
(Caution must be observed in receiving Pelagians back, and clergy must stay in the church of their ordination.)
Letter III.
From Paschasinus, Bishop of Lilybæum.
(About the keeping of Easter in 444; recommending the Alexandrine calculation.)
Letter IV.
To the Bishops appointed in Campania, Picenum, Etruria, and all the Provinces.
Leo, bishop of the city of Rome, to all the bishops appointed in Campania, Picenum, Etruria, and all the provinces, greeting in the Lord.
I. Introduction.
As the peaceful settlement of the churches causes us
satisfaction, so are we saddened with no slight sorrow whenever we
learn that anything has been taken for granted or done contrary to the
ordinances of the canons and the discipline of the Church: and if
we do not repress such things with the vigilance we ought, we cannot
excuse ourselves to Him
Cf.
II. Slaves and serfs (coloni) are not to be ordained.
Men are admitted commonly to the Sacred Order who
are not qualified by any dignity of birth or character: even some
who have failed to obtain their liberty from their masters are raised
to the rank of the priesthood Sacerdotii, see
note 5 on Letter I. Though no doubt S.
Leo’s language is here harsh and offensive to modern ears, it is
not, I think, substantially out of agreement with S. Paul’s own
teaching (cf. Qui originali
(al. origini) aut alicui condicioni obligati
sunt. The class of people alluded to were the coloni
(serfs): such of them as were so by birth were called
originarii: and there were other classes of them also
(alicui condicioni obligati). The essential difference
between all coloni and the ordinary servi was that
the latter’s service was personal, the former were
servi terræ, adscripti glæbæ. Thus
there is a strong resemblance between them and the villeins
(villani) of medieval and modern Europe. For the order
concerning them here given, cf. 2nd Council of Orleans (538), which
ordains “ut nullus servilibus colonariisque
condicionibus obligatus iuxta statuta sedis Apostolicæ ad honores
ecclesiasticos admittatur nisi prius aut testamento aut per tabulas
legitime constiterit absolutum.
III. A man who has married twice or a widow is not eligible as a priest.
Again, when each man’s respectability of
birth and conduct has been established, what sort of person should be
associated with the ministry of the Sacred Altar we have learnt both
from the teaching of the Apostle and the Divine precepts and the
regulations of the canons, from which we find very many of the brethren
have turned aside and quite gone out of the way. For it is well
known that the husbands of widows have attained to the
priesthood: certain, too, who have had several wives, and have
led a life given up to all licentiousness, have had all facilities put
in their way, and been admitted to the Sacred Order, contrary to that
utterance of the blessed Apostle, in which he proclaims and says to
such, “the husband of one wife The older editions here
add pro arbitrio (by dispensation), which Quesnel considers a
gloss added later when dispensation was sometimes granted to digamous
clerks.
IV. Usurious practices forbidden for
clergy and for laity The practice of usury
and trading generally is often forbidden in the Canons, &c., for
the clergy, but its prohibition for the laity is much more
unusual: cf., however, Canon V. of the Council of Carthage (419),
quod (sc. fenus accipere) in laicis,
reprehenditur id multo magis debet et in clericis
prædamnari. Scripture certainly is against the
clergy participating in lucrative employments, though it was not easy
always to prevent them: it had become, for instance, a common
practice in S. Cyprian’s day in the North African Church (cf.
de laps. 6). But the secular laws certainly countenanced
it in the laity (as Aug.
This point, too, we have thought must not be passed
over, that certain possessed with the love of base gain lay out their
money at interest,
V. A cleric may not make money in another’s name any more than in his own.
The following warning, also, we have thought fit
to give, that no cleric should attempt to make money in another’s
name any more than in his own: for it is unbecoming to shield
one’s crime under another man’s gains Crimen suum
commodis alienis impendere. I am not sure that this can mean
what I say.
VI. Any bishop who refuses consent to these rules must be deposed.
This admonition of ours, therefore, proclaims that
if any of our brethren endeavour to contravene these rules and dare to
do what is forbidden by them, he may know that he is liable to
deposition from his office, and that he will not be a sharer in our
communion who refuses to be a sharer of our discipline. But lest
there be anything which may possibly be thought to be omitted by us, we
bid you, beloved, to keep all the decretal rules of Innocent of blessed
memory This was S. Innocent
I., who was Pope from 402 to 417. One of his decretal letters was
quoted from in note 1 to chap. iii. of this Letter.
Dated 10th of October, in the consulship of the illustrious Maximus (a second time) and Paterius (a.d. 443).
Letter V.
To the Metropolitan Bishops of Illyricum.
(Appointing Anastasius of Thessalonica his Vicar in the province, and expressing his wishes about its government, for which see Letter VI.)
Letter VI.
To Anastasius, Bishop of Thessalonica.
Leo to his beloved brother Anastasius.
I. He is pleased to have been consulted
by the bishops The letter to the
college of bishops was written the same day, and forms No. 5 in the
Leonine series (in Migne).
The brotherly love of our colleagues makes us read
with grateful mind the letters of all priests Sacerdotum here
obviously = episcoporum, see Letter I. note 5. quibus sermone
epistolis mutuo commeantibus sociamur: notice the interlaced
order of the words in the sentence which is not, I think, without
design as quaintly expressing his meaning. Sc. in your
province.
II. Following the examples of his predecessors he nominates Anastasius Metropolitan of Illyricum.
Now therefore, dear brother, that your request has
been made known to us through our son Nicolaus the priest, that you,
too, like your predecessors, might receive from us in our turn
authority over Illyricum for the observance of the rules, we give our
consent and earnestly exhort that no concealment and no negligence may
be allowed in the management of the churches situated throughout
Illyricum, which we commit to you in our stead, following the precedent
of Siricius of blessed remembrance, who then, for the first time,
acting on a fixed method, entrusted them to your last predecessor but
one Siricius was Bishop of
Rome 384–398. Damasus, 366–384, is said by Innocent
I. to have been the first to do this but not like Siricius,
“acting on a fixed method,” certa quadam
ratione. Prædecessoris
tui. Anysius is said to have lived on into the time of
Innocent. Anastasius’ immediate predecessor, selected by
Innocent (decessoris tui in the next line), was named Rufus.
III. Ordinees must be carefully selected with especial reference to the Canons of the church.
And so, dear brother, hold with vigilance the helm
entrusted to you, and direct your mind’s gaze around on all which
you see put in your charge, guarding what will conduce to your reward
and resisting those who strive to upset the discipline of the
canons. The sanction of God’s law
must be respected, and the decrees of the canons should be more
especially kept. Throughout the provinces committed to thee let
such priests be consecrated to the Lord as are
commended only by their deserving life and position among the
clergy. Permit no licence to personal favour, nor to canvassing,
nor to purchased votes. Let the cases of those who are to be
ordained be investigated carefully and let them be trained in the
discipline of the Church through a considerable period of their
life. But if all the requirements of the holy Fathers are found
in them, and if they have observed all that we read the blessed Apostle
Paul to have enjoined on such, viz., that he be the husband of one
wife, and that she was a virgin when he married her, as the authority
of God’s law requires, [then ordain
them These words are not
found in the mss. apparently, but are
necessary to the sense. For the requirement cf. Letter IV.
chapter iii.
IV. The Metropolitans must not ordain hastily nor without consulting their Primate.
Let one be ordained a priest Here the word is
antistes and no doubt it signifies “bishop,” as the
next sentence clearly shows. The organization of the
province then included (1) the bishops under (2) metropolitans of
district under (3) one supreme primate of the province, who was in his
turn responsible to the Bishop of Rome.
V. Points which cannot be settled at the provincial synod are to be referred to Rome.
Any of the brethren who has been summoned to a
synod should attend and not deny himself to the holy
congregation: for there especially he should know that what will
conduce to the good discipline of the Church must be settled. For
all faults will be better avoided if more frequent conferences take
place between the priests of the Lord, and
intimate association is the greatest help alike to improvement and to
brotherly love. There, if any questions arise, under the
Lord’s guidance they will be able to be
determined, so that no bad feeling remains, and only a firmer love
exists among the brethren. But if any more important question
spring up, such as cannot be settled there under your presidency,
brother, send your report and consult us, so that we may write back
under the revelation of the Lord, of whose
mercy it is that we can do ought, because He has breathed favourably
upon us The word is
aspiraverit (the notion of which is to favour), not
inspiraverit (to inspire), as we might have
expected.
VI. Priests and deacons may not be ordained on weekdays any more than bishops.
You shall take order that this letter reach the
knowledge of all the brethren, so that no one hereafter find an
opportunity to excuse himself through ignorance in observing these
things which we command. We have directed our letter of
admonition Viz., Letter V. Circa quos par
consecratio fieri debet. I take this as a valuable statement
in the mouth of Leo, who so seldom refers specifically to the lower
orders of the ministry. There seems to be no
canon on the point before Leo’s time: but he alludes to the
tradition again in Letter IX. chap. 1 and CXI. chap. 2 (q.v.). Qui sacerdos
(? secundi ordinis here) vel levita
(= diaconus) ordinandus est.
Letter VII.
To the Bishops throughout Italy.
Leo to all the bishops set over the provinces of Italy greeting.
I. Many Manichæans have been discovered in Rome.
We call you to a share in our anxiety, that with
the diligence of shepherds you may take more careful heed to your
flocks entrusted to you that no craft of the devil’s be
permitted: lest that plague, which by the revealing mercy of the
Lord is driven off from our flocks through our
care, should spread among your churches before you are forewarned, and
are still ignorant of what is happening, and should find means of
stealthily burrowing into your midst, and thus what we are checking in
the City should take hidden root among you and grow up. Our
search has discovered in the City a great many followers and teachers
of the Manichæan impiety, our watchfulness has proclaimed them,
and our authority and censure has checked them: those whom we
could reform we have corrected and driven to condemn Manichæus
with his preachings and teachings by public confession in church, and
by the subscription of their own hand, and thus we have lifted those
who have acknowledged their fault from the pit of their iniquity by
granting them room for repentance Pœnitentiam
concedendo, i.e. we have not finally excommunicated them, but,
dealing leniently, we have given them opportunity of reinstating
themselves in the peace of the Church, by going through a due course of
penance (satisfactio). It is important to explain this
clearly to those who in the present day, are ignorant of the strict
discipline of the early Church. And are liable to forget that
penance was then a valuable means to repentance. Plebei.
II. The bishops of Italy must not allow those Manichæans who have quitted the city to escape or lie concealed.
And because we know that a good many of those who are
involved here in too close an accusation for them to clear themselves
have escaped, we have sent this letter to you, beloved, by our
acolyth: that your holiness, dear brothers, may be informed of
this, and see fit to act with diligence and caution, lest the men of
the Manichæan error be able to find opportunity of hurting your
people and of teaching their impious doctrines. For we cannot
otherwise rule those entrusted to us unless
Letter VIII.
The Ordinance of Valentinian III. concerning the Manichæans.
(The Manichæans are to be turned out of the army and the City, and to lose all their rights as citizens.)
Letter IX.
To Dioscorus, Bishop of Alexandria.
Leo, the bishop, to Dioscorus, bishop of Alexandria, greeting.
I. The churches of Rome and Alexandria should be at one in everything.
How much of the divine love we feel for you,
beloved, you will be able to estimate from this, that we are anxious to
establish your beginnings on a surer basis, lest anything should seem
lacking to the perfection of your love, since your meritorious acts of
spiritual grace, as we have proved, are already in your favour.
Fatherly and brotherly conference, therefore, ought to be most grateful
to you, holy brother, and received by you in the same spirit as you
know it is offered by us. For you and we ought to be at one in
thought and act, so that as we read Sc. in S. Mark, the evangelist
and disciple of S. Peter, is the radional founder of the church of
Alexandria.
II. Fixed days should be observed for ordaining priests and deacons.
That therefore which we know to have been very
carefully observed by our fathers, we wish kept by you also, viz. that
the ordination of priests or deacons should not be performed at random
on any day: but after Saturday, the commencement of that night
which precedes the dawn of the first day of the week should be chosen
on which the sacred benediction should be bestowed on those who are to
be consecrated, ordainer and ordained alike fasting. This
observance will not be violated, if actually on the morning of the
Lord’s day it be celebrated without
breaking the Saturday fast: for the beginning of the preceding
night forms part of that period, and undoubtedly belongs to the day of
resurrection as is clearly laid down with regard to the feast of
Easter That is to say, the
weekly resurrection festival (Sunday) begins with the vespers of the
preceding evening: this is notably the case in the yearly
festival of Easter, at least in Western use. Sacramentum
regenerationis: the reference in the first part of the
sentence seems to be S. S.
III. The repetition of the Holy Eucharist on the great festivals is not undesirable.
Again, that our usage may coincide at all points,
we wish this thing also to be observed, viz. that when any of the
greater festivals has brought together a larger congregation than
usual, and too great a crowd of the faithful has assembled for one
church Basilica,
q.v. in Smith’s Dict. of Christian
Antiquities. Missæ. It can hardly escape
notice that the people here are distinctly said “to offer the
sacrifice” in the person of their representative and mouthpiece,
the priest. And this is the language and intention of all
Liturgies (ancient and modern) of the Church.
Letter X.
To the Bishops of the Province of
Vienne. In the matter of Hilary, Bishop of Arles Cf. Introduction p.
vi.
To the beloved brothers, the whole body of bishops of the province of Vienne, Leo, bishop of Rome.
I. The solidarity of the Church built upon the rock of S. Peter must be everywhere maintained.
Our Lord Jesus Christ,
Saviour of mankind, instituted the observance of the Divine religion
which He wished by the grace of God to shed
its brightness upon all nations and all peoples in such a way that the
Truth, which before was confined to the announcements of the Law and
the Prophets, might through the Apostles’ trumpet blast go out
for the salvation of all men Per Apostolicam tubam
in salutem universitatis (Gk. τῆς
οἰκουμένης)
exiret, cf. Letter IX. Chap. ii. apostoli a Domino
prædicandi omnibus gentibus evangelii tubam sumunt. Huius muneris
sacramentum, his mind is running forward to his favourite
sacramentum, that of Peter as the rock-man of the Church. Cf. Letter XXVIII.
chap. v. a principali petra (B. Petrus), soliditatem
et virtutis traxit et nominis, etc.: also Cyprian de unit.
eccl. chapt. iv. S.
II. Hilary is disturbing the peace of the Church by his insubordination.
But with the approval, as we believe, of
God, and retaining towards you the fulness of
our love which the Apostolic See always, as you remember, expends upon
you, holy brethren we are striving to correct these things by mature
counsel, and to share with you the task of setting your churches in
order, not by innovations but by restoration of the old; that we may
persevere in the accustomed state which our fathers handed down to us,
and please our God through the ministry of a
good work by removing the scandals of disturbances. And so we
would have you recollect, brethren, as we do, that the Apostolic See,
such is the reverence in which it is held, has times out of number been
referred to and consulted by the priests of your province as well as
others, and in the various matters of appeal, as the old usage
demanded, it has reversed or confirmed decisions: and in this way
“the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace Cui cum præ
(Quesnel conj. pro) cæteris solvendi et
ligandi tradita sit potestas, pascendarum tamen ovium cura specialius
mandata est. Cf. S.
III. Celidonius has been restored to his bishopric, the charges against him having been found false.
Accordingly the written record of our proceedings
shows what action we have taken in the matter of Celidonius Celidonius was
probably either bishop of Vienne or of Vesontis (Besançon):
see Perthel, p. 25. Quesnel well refers
this phrase to Cf. Letter IV. chap.
iii. Servantes legalia
constituta, these are taken to be not so much the canons of the
Church as the provisions of the Mosaic Law, e.g. Militiam (lit.
military service).
IV. Hilary’s treatment of Projectus does not redound to his credit.
When this business was so concluded, the complaint
of our brother and fellow-bishop, Projectus Projectus was
perhaps a bishop of the province of Gallia Narbonensis I.:
Perthel, p. 27. Quod Projecto
episcopo suo ægrotare liberum non fuisset, eiusque sacerdotium in
alium præter suam notitiam esse translatum, et tamquam in vacuam
possessionem ab Hilario pervasore hæredem viventis
inductum. The construction is changed from
quod.…fuisset, to the ordinary accus. and infin. Patroclus had been
Bishop of Arles circ. 416, and the then Bishop of Rome, Zosimus,
had granted him metropolitan rights over the provinces of S.E. Gaul,
which did not gain the acceptance of the other chief bishops in the
district, and Boniface I. ( Civium:
populorum. The former are apparently called lower down
fidelium, and the latter, qui foris sunt.
V. Hilary’s action was very reprehensible throughout, and we have restored Projectus.
But Hilary came upon them unawares and departed no
less suddenly, accomplishing many journeys with great speed, as we have
ascertained, and traversing distant provinces with such haste that he
seems to have coveted a reputation for the swiftness of a courier
rather than for the sobriety of a priest Gloriam de
scurrili velocitate potius quam de sacerdotali moderatione
captasse. In cortem
ovium: the low Latin word (cors) is in the Vulgate
changed to ovile.
These two matters, as we see, have been settled, though there are many other points in them which seem to have violated the principles of the Church, and ought to be visited with just censure and judgment. But we cannot linger on them any further, for we are called off to other matters on which we must carefully confer with you, holy brethren.
A band of soldiers, as we have learnt, follows the
priest through the provinces and helps him who relies upon their armed
support in turbulently invading churches, which have lost their own
priests. Before this court Ante hoc
officium. Cf. Cypr. Quesnel appositely
quotes Pliny (Paneg. Traiani) imperaturus omnibus eligi debet ex
omnibus. Quod lucescit in
prima sabbati; the phrase is repeated from Letter IX., chap. ii.,
to which refer to the whole passage. Viz., Sunday.
VII. Hilary is deposed not only from his usurped jurisdiction, but also from what of right belongs to him, and is restricted to his own single bishopric.
Let each province be content with its own
councils, and let not Hilary dare to summon synodal meetings besides,
and by his interference disturb the judgments of the Lord’s priests. And let him know that he is
not only deposed from another’s rights, but also deprived of his
power over the province of Vienne which he had wrongfully
assumed. For it is but fair, brethren, that the ordinances of
antiquity should be restored, seeing that he who claimed for himself
the ordinations of a province for which he was not responsible, has
been shown in a similar way in the present case also to have acted so
that, as he has on more than one occasion brought on himself sentence
of condemnation by his rash and insolent words, he may now be kept by
our command in accordance with the clemency of the Apostolic
See Pro apostolicæ
sedis pietate, or “as loyalty to the Apostolic See
demands.” This does not mean that
Hilary is excommunicated, but that he is to have no share in episcopal
privileges as a successor of the apostles. These words of course
refer to Hilary’s journey on foot to Rome, and his subsequent
escape from something very much like prison: see Introduction, p.
vi.: for his degradation, cf. Letter XII., chap. ix., where a
similar punishment is enacted.
VIII. Excommunication should be inflicted only on those who are guilty of some great crime, and even then not hastily.
No Christian should lightly be denied
communion Here, no doubt,
excommunication pure and simple is meant. Cf. note 4,
supr.
IX. Leontius is appointed in Hilary’s room.
Wherefore, because our desire seems very different
to this (for we are anxious that the settled state of all the Churches
and the harmony of the priests should be maintained,) exhorting you to
unity in the bond of love, we both entreat, and consistently with our
affection admonish you, in the interests of your peace and dignity, to
keep what has been decreed by us at the inspiration of God and the most blessed Apostle Peter, after sifting and
testing all the matters at issue, being assured that what we are known
to have decided in this way is not so much to our own advantage as to
yours. For we are not keeping in our own hands the ordinations of
your provinces, as perhaps Hilary, with his usual untruthfulness, may
suggest in order to mislead your minds, holy brethren: but in our
anxiety we are claiming for you that no further innovations should be
allowed, and that for the future no opportunity should be given for the
usurper to infringe your privileges. For we acknowledge that it
can only redound to our credit, if the diligence of the Apostolic See
be kept unimpaired among you, and if in our maintenance of Apostolic
discipline we do not allow what belongs to your position to fall to the
ground through unscrupulous aggressions. And since seniority is
always to be respected, we wish Leontius Leontius seems to have
had little but his age to recommend him for this promotion: the
name of his bishopric is unknown, and the weakness of the appointment
may, I think, be gathered from Leo’s insisting so strongly on the
principle of seniority both here and in chap vi. above.
Letter XI.
An Ordinance of Valentinianus III.
(Confirming Leo’s sentence upon Hilary.)
Letter XII.
Leo, bishop of the city of Rome, to all the bishops of Mauritania Cæsariensis in Africa, greeting the Lord.
I. The disorderly appointments of bishops which have been made in the province are reprehensible.
Inasmuch as the frequent accounts of those who
visited us made mention of certain unlawful practices among you with
regard to the ordination of priests, the demands of religion required
that we should strive to arrive at the exact state of the case in
accordance with that solicitude which by the Divine command we bestow
on the whole Church: and so we delegated the charge of this to
our brother and fellow-priest, Potentius, who was setting out from
us: and who, according to what we wrote and addressed to you by
him, was to make inquiry as to the facts about the bishops whose
election was said to be faulty, and to report everything faithfully to
us. Wherefore, because the same Potentius has most fully
disclosed all to our knowledge, and has by his truthful account made
clear to us, under what and what manner of governors some of
Christ’s congregations are placed in certain parts of the
province of (Mauritania) Cæsariensis, we have found it necessary
to open out the grief wherewith our hearts are vexed for the dangers of
the Lord’s flocks, by sending this
letter also to you beloved: for we are surprised that either the
over-bearing conduct of intriguers or the rioting of the people had so
much weight with you in a time of disorder, that the chief pastorate
and governance of the Church was handed over to the unworthiest
persons, and such as were farthest removed from the priestly
standard. This is not to consult but harm the peoples’
interests: and not to enforce discipline but to increase
differences. For the integrity of the rulers is the safeguard of
those who are under them: and where there is complete obedience,
there the form of doctrine is sound. But an appointment which has
either been made by sedition or seized by intrigue, even though it
offend not in morals or in practice, is nevertheless pernicious from
the mere example of its beginning: and it is hard for
II. In no case ought bishops to be ordained hastily.
But if in every grade of the Church great
forethought and knowledge has to be employed, lest there be any thing
disorderly or out of place Nihil sit inordinatum
nihilque præposterum: the two words are well chosen (as
usual), and bearing a distinct meaning: the former expressing
“disorder” in the sense of want of the divine commission,
the latter “disorder” in the sense of choosing the younger
over the old, the inferior over the superior, &c.; the same two
epithets occur in Lett. XIX., chap. i. Ante ætatem
maturitatis. The Council of Carthage (a.d. 397), c. 4, fixed the downward limit for deacons at
25, and for priests at 30: and we may presume that that was the
general rule in Leo’s time, for we find the same ages ordained
afterwards in the Novellæ of Justinian (535–565) and
elsewhere.
III. The Apostolic precept about the marriage of the clergy based upon the marriage of Christ with the Church of which it is a figure.
For as the Apostle says that among other rules for
election he shall be ordained bishop who is known to have been or to be
“the husband of one wife,” this command was always held so
sacred that the same condition was understood as necessary to be
observed even in the wife Cf. Letter IV., chap
ii., and elsewhere. No one will by this time
be surprised to find Leo calling Sacred Orders either a
sacramentum, as here, or mysterium, as in the next
sentence: the two terms are indeed in his usage almost
equivalents.
IV. Premature promotions are to be avoided.
But when the Apostle warns and says:
“and let these also first be proved, and so let them
minister The shorter edition of
this letter, which is extent, gives this sentence in a very different
form: the qualifications are much more exactly defined, e.g.,
bishops are to have spent their lives in orders a puerilibus
exordiis usque ad provectiores annos. I think Quesnel is
right in considering this a later version and alteration the better to
inculcate the usage of the Church. For although no doubt people
were often mere boys [Readers (lectores) for instance: see
Bright’s note 46] when they entered minor orders, yet the fact
that one was an adult layman before taking orders could not ipso
facto have precluded a man from becoming bishop, however desirable
the rule and general principle might be: in fact Cyprian at least
is evidence to the contrary. Sc.
V. He distinguishes between laymen who have been raised to the bishoprics and digamous clerks, forgiving the former and not the latter.
Since then either the eager wishes of the people
or the intrigues of the ambitious have had so much weight among you
that we understand not only laymen, but even husbands of second wives
or widows have been promoted to the pastoral office, are there not the
clearest reasons for requiring that the churches in which such things
have been done should be cleansed by a severer judgment than usual, and
that not only the rulers themselves, but also those who ordained them
should receive condign punishment? But there stand on our one
hand the gentleness of mercy, on our other the strictness of
justice. And because “all the paths of the Lord are loving-kindness and truth Utcumque. Per legitama
augmenta, cf. n. 7 above. This passage makes it clear what is
there required is not the puerilia exordia of the shorter
edition of this letter, but the multum tempus of this longer
edition. Utcumque
again. Aliqua
ratione.
VI. Donatus, a converted Novatian, and Maximus, an ex-Donatist, are retained in their episcopal office.
Donatus of Salacia, who, as we learn, has been
converted from the Novatians In the case of these two
noted African schisms it is hardly necessary to do more than refer the
reader to Smith’s or any other standard dictionary.
VII. The case of Aggarus and Tyberianus (ordained with tumult) is referred to the bishops.
But concerning Aggarus and Tyberianus, whose case is different from the others who were ordained from among the laity, in this that their ordination is reported to have been accompanied by fierce riots and savage disturbances, we have entrusted the whole matter to your judgment, that relying upon your investigation of the case, we may know what to decide about them.
VIII. Maidens who have suffered violence are not to compare themselves with others.
Those handmaids of God who have lost their chastity by the violence of barbarians, will be more praiseworthy in their humility and shame-fastness, if they do not venture to compare themselves to undefiled virgins. For although every sin springs from the desire, and the will may have remained unconquered and unpolluted by the fall of the flesh, still this will be less to their detriment, if they grieve over losing even in the body what they did not lose in spirit.
IX. These injunctions to be carried out without contentiousness.
And so now that you see yourselves, beloved, fully
instructed through David, our brother and fellow-bishop, who is
approved to us both by his personal character and his priestly worth,
on [nearly] Fere here added
probably to account for the long tail of extraneous or repeated matter
tacked on to the letter. Here the shorter
edition of the letter breaks off, and there are certainly difficulties
in considering that the long coda or repetitions and fresh matter here
attached formed part of the original draft of the letter. Is it
possible that two letters (the one later than the other) have been
welded into one?
X. The appointment of bishops over too small places is inexpedient and must be discontinued.
That of course which pertains to the priestly
dignity we wish to be observed in common with all the statutes of the
canons, viz., that bishops be not consecrated in any place nor in any
hamlet
Castellis. Cf. Liv. xxi. chaps. 33, 34, where the word is
used of the Alpine villages. In the Vulgate it represents the Gk.
κώμη (e.g.
Possessionibus.
XI. Virgins violated against their will are to be treated as somewhat different to the others, but not to be denied Communion.
Now concerning those who, having made a holy vow of
virginity [as we said above, chap. viii.], have suffered the violence
of barbarians, and have lost their spotless purity not in spirit but in
body, we consider such mode
Cyprian (de hab.
Virg.) speaks of women who have lost their virginity by their own
fault as viduæ antequam nuptæ, and S. Jerome, using
the same expression (Lett. to Eustochius on the preservation of
Virginity), implies that they very often dressed like widows
(plerasque viduas antequam nuptas infelicem conscientiam
mentita tantum veste protegere): this will account for
Leo’s here providing that these unhappy women are not deiici
in viduarum gradum. Ball.
XII. The care of Lupicinus is in part dealt with and in part referred to them.
The case also of bishop Lupicinus The case of Lupicinus
seems somewhat similar to that of Projectus in Lett. X., chap. iv, and
was similarly referred to local experts.
XIII. All disputes to be dealt with on the spot first and then referred to the Apostolic See.
But whenever other cases arise which concern the state of the Church and the harmony of priests, we wish them to be first sifted by yourselves in the fear of the Lord, and a full account of all matters settled or needing settlement sent to us, that those things which have been properly and reasonably decided, according to the usage of the Church, may receive our corroborative sanction also. Dated 10th August.
Letter XIII.
To the Metropolitan Bishops in the Provinces of Illyricum.
Leo congratulates them on accepting the authority of Anastasius over them (given in Lett. IV.).
Letter XIV.
To Anastasius, Bishop of Thessalonica.
Leo, bishop of the City of Rome, to Anastasius, bishop of Thessalonica.
I. Prefatory.
If with true reasoning you perceived all that has
been committed to you, brother, by the blessed apostle Peter’s
authority, and what has also been entrusted to you by our favour, and
would weigh it fairly, we should be able greatly to rejoice at your
zealous discharge of the responsibility imposed on you De iniunctæ
tibi sollicitudinis devotione (an obscure expression).
II. Anastasius is taxed with exceeding the limits of his vicariate, especially in his violent and unworthy treatment of Atticus.
Seeing that, as my predecessors acted towards
yours, so too I, following their example, have delegated my authority
to you See Letter IV., where
it will be remembered the appointment of Anastasius, as Vicar of
Illyricum, was made.
For there has come to us our brother Atticus, the
metropolitan Some for
metropolitanus here read Nicopolitanus, Bishop of
Nicopolis, the metropolitan see of old Epirus. Quesnel. The language is, I
think, intentionally exaggerated and high-flown: parturiunt
montes nascetur ridiculus mus. Anastasius seems to
have arraigned Atticus before the civil court of the Prefect of
Illyricum: he sent his apparitors, who violently dragged him out
of the church, and brought him in midwinter across country to be
tried.
I am quite dumb-founded, beloved brother, yea and
I am also sore grieved that you brought yourself to be so savagely and
violently moved against one about whom you had laid no further
information than that when summoned to appear he put off and excused
himself on the grounds of illness; especially when, even if he deserved
any such treatment, you should have waited till I had replied to your
consulting letter. But, as I perceive, you thought too well of my
habits, and most truly foresaw how fair-minded The word is
civilia, in which Brissonius thinks he sees an allusion either
to the opposition between civil law and
prætor’s law (to which Anastasius had appealed), or
else to the technical meaning of the word in jurisprudence as
equivalent to ‘Legitimate’ or ‘fair’. The
latter is more likely. Quesnel here accepts
Nicopolitanum instead of metropolitanum (see n. 7 above),
but with little reason.
III. The rights of the metropolitans under the vicariate of Anastasius are to be observed.
Therefore according to the canons of the holy Fathers, which are framed by the spirit of God and hollowed by the whole world’s reverence, we decree that the metropolitan bishops of each province over which your care, brother, extends by our delegacy, shall keep untouched the rights of their position which have been handed down to them from olden times: but on condition that they do not depart from the existing regulations by any carelessness or arrogance.
IV. The negative qualifications of a bishop determined.
In cities whose governors Rectores.
V. Continence is required even in sub-deacons.
For although they who are not within the ranks of
the clergy are free to take pleasure in the companionship of wedlock
and the procreation of children, yet for the exhibiting of the purity
of complete continence, even sub-deacons are not allowed carnal
marriage: that “both those that have, may be as though they
had not Quartus a
Capite, i.e. from Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church, or perhaps
from the Bishop of Rome, His soi-disant representative on earth
(cf. chap. xii, below).
VI. The election of a bishop must proceed by the wishes of the clergy and people.
When therefore the choice of the chief priest is taken in hand, let him be preferred before all whom the unanimous consent of clergy and people demands, but if the votes chance to be divided between two persons, the judgment of the metropolitan should prefer him who is supported by the preponderance of votes and merits: only let no one be ordained against the express wishes of the place: lest a city should either despise or hate a bishop whom they did not choose, and lamentably fall away from religion because they have not been allowed to have whom they wished.
VII. Metropolitans are to refer to their Vicar: the mode of electing metropolitans is laid down.
However the metropolitan bishop should refer to you, brother, about the person to be consecrated bishop, and about the consent of the clergy and people: and he should acquaint you with the wishes of the province: that the due celebration of the ordination may be strengthened by your authority also. But to right selections it will be your duty to cause no delay or hindrance, lest the Lord’s flocks should remain too long with their shepherd’s care.
Moreover when a metropolitan is defunct and
another has to be elected in to his place, the bishops of the province
must meet together in the metropolitical city: that after the
wishes of all the clerics and all the citizens have been sifted, the
best man may be chosen from the presbyters of that same church or from
the deacons, and you are to be informed of his name by the priests of
the province, who will carry out the wishes of his supporters on
ascertaining that you agree with their choice This method of
electing the metropolitan will at once strike the reader: the
electors apparently are (1) the bishops of the province (who are not
eligible for the office); (2) the clergy of the diocese (who alone are
eligible); and (3) the laity of the diocese. Only if one
remembers how limited each diocese was in extent, can one realise the
working of the method.
VIII. Bishops are to hold provincial councils twice a year.
Concerning councils of bishops we give no other
instructions than those laid down for the Church’s health by the
holy Fathers The Council of
Nicæa (325) fixed two councils a year, one ante quadragesimam
Paschæ (i.e. before Eastertide), the other circa tempus
autumni.
IX. Translation from one see to another is to be prohibited.
If any bishop, despising the insignificance of his city, shall intrigue for the government of a more populous place, and transfer himself by whatever means to a larger flock, he shall first be driven from the chair he has usurped, and also shall be deprived of his own: so shall he preside neither over those whom in his greed he coveted, nor over those whom in his arrogance he spurned. Therefore let each be content with his own bounds, and not seek to be raised above the limits of his present post.
X. Bishops are not to entice or receive the clergy of another diocese.
A cleric from another diocese let no (bishop) accept or invite against the wishes of his own bishop: but only when giver and receiver agree together thereupon by friendly compact. For a man is guilty of a serious injury who ventures either to entice or withhold from a brother’s church that which is of great use or high value. And so, if such a thing happen within the province, the metropolitan shall force the deserting cleric to return to his church: but if he has withdrawn himself still further off, he shall be recalled by your authoritative command: so that no occasion be left for either desire of gain or intrigue.
XI. When the Vicar shall require a meeting of bishops, two from each province will be sufficient.
In summoning bishops to your presence, we wish you to show great forbearance: lest under a show of much diligence you seem to exult in your brethren’s injuries. Wherefore if any greater case arise for which it is reasonable and necessary to convene a meeting of brethren, it may suffice, brother, that two bishops should attend from each province, whom the metropolitans shall think proper to be sent, on the understanding that those who answer the summons be not detained longer than fifteen days from the time fixed.
XII. In case of difference of opinion between the Vicar and the bishops, the bishop of Rome must be consulted. The subordination of authorities in the Church expounded.
But if in that which you believed necessary to be
discussed and settled with the brethren, their opinion differs from
your own wishes, let all be referred to us, with the minutes of your
proceedings attested, that all ambiguities may be removed, and what is
pleasing to God decided. For to this end
we direct all our desires and pains, that what conduces to our
harmonious unity and to the protection of discipline may be marred by
no dissension and neglected by no slothfulness. Therefore, dearly
beloved brother, you and those our brethren who are offended at your
extravagant conduct (though the matter of complaint is not the same
with all), we exhort and warn not to disturb by any wrangling what has
been rightfully ordained and wisely settled. Let none “seek
what is his own, but what is another’s,” as the Apostle
says: “Let each one of you please his neighbour for his
good unto edifying Viz., S. Peter. Magna ordinatione
provisum est. S.
Letter XV.
To Turribius, Bishop of
Asturia This Turribius was a
man of learning and zeal, Bishop of Astoria (Astorga) in Spain
(province of Gallicia): canonized by the Roman Church and
commemorated on April 16 (Hurter). The date of the letter is
given as 21 Jul., 447.
Leo, bishop, to Turribius, bishop, greeting.
I. Introductory.
Your laudable zeal for the truth of the catholic
Faith, and the painstaking devotion you expend in the exercise of your
pastoral office upon the Lord’s flock is
proved by your letter, brother, which your deacon has handed to us, in
which you have taken care to bring to our knowledge the nature of the
disease which has burst forth in your district from the remnants of an
ancient plague. For the language of your letter, and your
detailed statement, and the text of your pamphlet Hurter
distinguishes these three documents thus: (1) epistola,
the private letter of Turribius to Leo; (2) commonitorium, the
detailed statement (under 16 heads) of the Priscillianist errors; and
(3) libellus, Turribius’ refutation of each head.
This heresy was of Spanish origin, having been broached by Priscillian
about 380. Their views will be seen in the sequel. Priscillianistarum
fœtidissimam apud vos recaluisse sentinam. Multiplicem sibi
fœculentiam miscuerunt.
In fact, if all the heresies which have arisen
before the time of Priscillian were to be studied carefully, hardly any
mistake will be discovered with which this impiety has not been
infected: for not satisfied with accepting the falsehoods of
those who have departed from the Gospel under the name of Christ, it
has plunged itself also in the shades of heathendom, so as to rest
their religious faith and their moral conduct upon the power of demons
and the influences of the stars through the blasphemous secrets of the
magic arts and the empty lies of astrologers. But if this may be
believed and taught, no reward will be due for virtues, no punishment
for faults, and all the injunctions not only of human laws but also of
the Divine constitutions will be broken down: because there will
be no criterion of good or bad actions possible, if a fatal necessity
drives the impulses of the mind to either side, and all that men do is
through the agency not of men but of stars. To this madness
belongs that monstrous division of the whole human body among the
twelve signs of the zodiac, so that each part is ruled by a different
power: and the creature, whom God made
in His own image, is as much under the domination of the stars as his
limbs are connected one with the other. Rightly then our fathers,
in whose times this abominable heresy sprung up, promptly pursued it
throughout the world, that the blasphemous error might everywhere be
driven from the Church: for even the leaders of the world so
abhorred this profane folly that they laid low its originator, with
most of his disciples, by the sword of the public laws. For they
saw that all desire for honourable conduct was removed, all
marriage-ties undone, and the Divine and the human law simultaneously
undermined, if it were allowed for men of this kind to live anywhere
under such a creed. And this rigourous treatment was for long a
help to the Church’s law of gentleness which, although it relies
upon the priestly judgment, and shuns blood-stained vengeance, yet is
assisted by the stern decrees of Christian princes at times when men,
who dread bodily punishment, have recourse to merely spiritual
correction. But since many provinces have been taken up with the
invasions of the enemy He alludes to the
invasion of Spain by the German tribes (Perthel, p. 38). See above n. 6.
Quesnel draws attention to the fact that Leo’s refutation of the
Priscillianist heresy, which here follows, was adopted (almost) word
for word by the first council of Bracara (Braga, in Portugal), held in
563, as a sufficient exposition of their own position.
II. (1) The Priscillianists’ denial of the Trinity refuted.
And so under the first head is shown what unholy views they hold about the Divine Trinity: they affirm that the person of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost is one and the same, as if the same God were named now Father, now Son, and now Holy Ghost: and as if He who begot were not one, He who was begotten, another, and He who proceeded from both, yet another; but an undivided unity must be understood, spoken of under three names, indeed, but not consisting of three persons. This species of blasphemy they borrowed from Sabellius, whose followers were rightly called Patripassians also: because if the Son is identical with the Father, the Son’s cross is the Father’s passion (patris-passio): and the Father took on Himself all that the Son took in the form of a slave, and in obedience to the Father. Which without doubt is contrary to the catholic faith, which acknowledges the Trinity of the Godhead to be of one essence (ὁμοούσιον) in such a way that it believes the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost indivisible without confusion, eternal without time, equal without difference: because it is not the same person but the same essence which fills the Unity in Trinity.
III. (2) Their fancy about virtues proceeding from God refuted.
Under the second head is displayed their foolish and empty fancy about the issue of certain virtues from God which he began to possess, and which were posterior to God Himself in His own essence. In this again they support the Arians’ mistake, who say that the Father is prior to the Son, because there was a time when He was without the Son: and became the Father then when He begot the Son. But as the catholic Church abhors them, so also does it abhor these who think that what is of the same essence was ever wanting to God. For it is as wicked to speak of Him as progressing as it is to call Him changeable. For increase implies change as much as does decrease.
IV. (3) Their account of the epithet “Only Begotten” refuted.
Again the third head is concerned with these same folk’s impious assertion that the Son of God is called “only-begotten” for this reason that He alone was born of a virgin. To be sure they would not have dared to say this, had they not drunk the poison of Paul of Samosata and Photinus: who said that our Lord Jesus Christ did not exist till He was born of the virgin Mary. But if they wish something else to be understood by their tenet, and do not date Christ’s beginning from His mother’s womb, they must necessarily assert that there is not one Son of God, but others also were begotten of the most High Father, of whom this one is born of a woman, and therefore called only-begotten, because no other of God’s sons underwent this condition of being born. Therefore, whithersoever they betake themselves, they fall into an abyss of great impiety, if they either maintain that Christ the Lord took His beginning from His mother, or do not believe Him to be the only-begotten of God the Father: since He who was God was born of a mother, and no one was born of the Father except the Word.
V. (4) Their fasting on the Nativity and Sunday disapproved of.
The fourth head deals with the fact that the
Birth-day of Christ, which the catholic Church thinks highly of as the
occasion of His taking on Him true man, because “the Word became
flesh and dwelt in us S. Viz. the
Manichæans.
VI. (5) Their view that the soul is part of the Divine being refuted.
The fifth head refers to their assertion that
man’s soul is part of the Divine being This Pantheistic view
was not, of course, a new one, nor pseudo-Christian in its origin, as
Leo himself shows. Cf. Virg., Georg. IV. 219–227, and
Æn. vi. 724–727. The philosophi quidam to which he
makes reference are the Pythagoreans, and following them with
modifications the Platonists and the Stoics. The reader need
hardly be reminded of the recorded revelation of the great “I
am” (Jehovah) to Moses ( Cf.
VII. (6) Their view that the devil was never good, and is therefore not God’s creation, refuted.
The sixth notice points out that they say the
devil never was good, and that his nature is not God’s handiwork, but he came forth out of chaos and
darkness: because I suppose he has no instigator, but is himself
the source and substance of all evil: whereas the true Faith,
which is the catholic, acknowledges that the substance of all creatures
spiritual or corporeal is good, and that evil has no positive
existence i.e., that evil
is not anything positive, but only the negation or absence of good
which is positive, just as black is not itself a colour, but
only the absence of colour, whereas white is the presence (in due
proportion) of all the colours of the spectrum. S.
VIII. (7) Their rejection of marriage condemned.
In the seventh place follows their condemnation of marriages and their horror of begetting children: in which, as in almost all points, they agree with the Manichæans’ impiety. But it is for this reason, as their own practices prove, that they detest the marriage tie, because there is no liberty for lewdness where the chastity of wedlock and of offspring is preserved.
IX. (8) Their disbelief in the resurrection of the body has been already condemned by the Church.
Their eighth point is that the formation Plasmationem, a
vile hybrid, being the Greek πλάσμα, with a Latin ending
(-atio); for which apparently the Low Latin of the Vulgate is
responsible. Cf.
Olim Perhaps Leo refers to his own action
mentioned in Lett. vii. 1.
X. (9) Their notion that “the children of promise” are conceived by the Holy Ghost is utterly unscriptural and uncatholic.
The ninth notice declares that they say the sons
of promise are born indeed of women but conceived by the Holy
Spirit: lest that offspring which is born of carnal seed should
seem to share in God’s estate.
This is repugnant and contrary to the catholic Faith which acknowledges
every man to be formed by the Maker of the Universe in the substance of
his body and soul, and to receive the breath of life within his
mother’s womb: though that taint of sin and liability to
die remains which passed from the first parent into his descendants;
until the sacrament of Regeneration comes to succour him, whereby
through the Holy Spirit we are re-born the sons of promise, not in the
fleshly womb, but in the power of baptism. Whence David also, who
certainly was a son of promise, says to God: “Thy hands have made me and fashioned
me
XI. (10) Their theory that souls have a previous existence before entering man refuted.
Under the tenth head they are reported as
asserting that the souls which are placed in men’s bodies have
previously been without body and have sinned in their heavenly
habitation, and for this reason having fallen from their high estate to
a lower one alight upon ruling spirits In diversæ
qualitatis principes incidisse, cf. The Pythagorean
doctrine of μετεμψύωσις
(transmigration of souls) which was in a modified form accepted by
Plato (Phædr. et alibi), would seem to have been the
original source of this view of the soul’s origin. It would
naturally be palatable doctrine to the Gnostics and other
philosophizing sects. In Lett. XXXV., chap. iii., it is
attributed to Origen. For a modem exposition the reader cannot do
better than refer to Wordsworth’s ode on the intimations of
Immortality in childhood.
XII. (11) Their astrological notions condemned.
Their eleventh blasphemy is that in which they suppose that both the souls and bodies of men are under the influence of fatal stars: this folly compels them to become entangled in all the errors of the heathen, and to strive to attract stars that are as they think favourable to them, and to soften those that are against them. But for those who follow such pursuits there is no place in the catholic Church; a man who gives himself up to such convictions separates himself from the body of Christ altogether.
The twelfth of these points is this, that they map
out the parts of the soul under certain powers, and the limbs of the
body under others: and they suggest the characters of the inner
powers that rule the soul by giving them the names of the patriarchs,
and on the contrary they attribute the signs of the stars to those
under which they put the body. And in all these things they
entangle themselves in an inextricable maze, not listening to the
Apostle when he says, “See that no one deceive you through
philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men, after the
rudiments of the world, and not after Christ; for in Him dwells all the
fulness of the Godhead bodily, and in Him ye are made full, who is the
head of every principality and power
XIV. (13) Their fanciful division of the Scriptures rejected.
In the thirteenth place comes their assertion that
the whole body of the canonical Scriptures is to be accepted, under the
names of the patriarchs Leo’s commentary
on this obscure fancy of the Priscillianist is disappointing, as it is
merely a repetition or continuation of his remarks on the 12th
head. They seem to have divided the scriptures in some mystic
fashion into portions corresponding to the qualitates interiorum
præsulum in patriarcharum nominibus (statutæ) of
chap. xiii., and to have insisted on knowledge of the Scriptures as
necessary to the proper action of those “ruling principles”
on the soul. Cf. S. Aug. Letter CCXXXVII., chap. iii.
(Hurter).
XV. (14) Their idea that the Scriptures countenance their subjecting of the body to the starry influences denied.
Under the fourteenth heading their sentiments upon the state of the body are stated, viz., that it is, on account of its earthly properties, held under the power of stars and constellations, and that many things are found in the holy books which have reference to the outer man with this object, that in the Scriptures themselves a certain opposition may be seen at work between the divine and the earthly nature: and that which the powers that rule the soul claim for themselves may be distinguished from that which the fashioners of the body claim. These stories are invented that the soul may be maintained to be part of the divine substance, and the flesh believed to belong to the bad nature: since the world itself, with its elements, they hold to be not the work of the good God, but the outcome of an evil author: and that they might disguise these sacrilegious lies under a fair cloak, they have polluted almost all the divine utterances with the colouring of their unholy notions.
XVI. (15) Their falsified copies of the Scriptures, and their apocryphal books prohibited.
And on this subject your remarks under the fifteenth
head make a complaint, and express a well-deserved abhorrence of their
devilish presumption, for we too have ascertained this from the
accounts of trustworthy witnesses, and have found many of their copies
most corrupt, though they are entitled canonical. For how could
they deceive the simple-minded
Viz., such writings
as the Actus of Thomas, Andrew and John, and the Memoria
apostolorum, qui totam destruit legem veteris Testamenti, according
to Turribius’s letter to Idacius and Ceponius, chap. v.,
subjoined to this letter in the Leonine series.
XVII. (16) About the writings of
Dictinius Dictinius was a bishop
who had turned Priscillianist, and afterwards, at the synod of Toledo
(400), had returned to the fold of the Church (Perthel, p. 41)
Under the last head a just complaint was made that the treatises of Dictinius which he wrote in agreement with Priscillian’s tenets were read by many with veneration: for if they think any respect is due to Dictinius’ memory, they ought to admire his restoration rather than his fall. Accordingly it is not Dictinius but Priscillian that they read: and they approve of what he wrote in error, not what he preferred after recantation. But let no one venture to do this with impunity, nor let any one be reckoned among catholics who makes use of writings that have been condemned not by the catholic Church alone but by the author himself as well. Let not those who have gone astray be allowed to make a fictitious show, and under the veil of the Christian name shirk the provisions of the imperial decrees. For they attach themselves to the catholic Church with all this difference of opinion in their heart, with the object of both making such converts as they can, and escaping the rigour of the law by passing themselves off as ours. This is done by Priscillianists and Manichæans alike; for there is such a close bond of union between the two that they are distinct only in name, but in their blasphemies are found at one: because although the Manichæans reject the Old Testament which the others pretend to accept, yet the purpose of both tends to the same end, seeing that the one side corrupts while receiving what the other assails and rejects.
But in their abominable mysteries, which the more unclean they are, are so much the more carefully concealed, their crime is but one, their filthy-mindedness one, and their foul conduct similar. And although we blush to speak so plainly, yet we have tracked it out with the most painful searches, and exposed it by the confession of Manichæans who have been arrested, and thus brought it to the public knowledge: lest by any means it might seem matter of doubt, although it has been disclosed by the mouth of the men themselves, who had performed the crime, in our court, which was attended not only by a large gathering of priests, but also by men of repute and dignity, and a certain number of the senate and the people, even as the missive which we have addressed to you, beloved, shows to have been done. And there has been found out and widely published about the immoral practices of the Priscillianists just what was also found out about the foul wickedness of the Manichæans. For they who are throughout on a level of depravity in their ideas, cannot be unlike in their religious matters.
So having run through all that the detailed refutation contains, with which the contents of the memorial of their views does not disagree, we have, I think, satisfactorily shown what our opinion on the matters which you, brother, have referred to us, and how unbearable it is if such blasphemous errors find acceptance in the hearts even of some priests, or to put it more mildly, are not actively opposed by them. With what conscience can they maintain the honourable position which has been given them, who do not labour for the souls entrusted to them? Beasts rush in, and they do not close the fold. Robbers lay wait, and they set no watch. Diseases multiply, and they seek out no remedies. But when in addition they refuse assent to those who act more warily, and shrink from anathematizing by their written confession blasphemies which the whole world has already condemned, what do they wish men to understand except that they are not of the number of the brethren, but on the enemy’s side?
Furthermore in the matter which you placed last in
your confidential letter, I am surprised that any intelligent Christian
should be in difficulty as to whether when Christ descended to the
realms below, his flesh rested in the tomb: for as it truly died
and was buried, so it was truly raised the third day. For this
the Lord Himself also had announced, saying to
the Jews, “destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it
up S.
Therefore let a council of bishops be held among
you, and let the priests of neighbouring provinces meet at a place
suitable to all: that, on the lines of our reply to your request
for advice, a full inquiry may be made as to whether here are any of
the bishops who are tainted with the contagion of this heresy:
for they must without doubt be cut off from communion, if they refuse
to condemn this most unrighteous sect with all its wrongful
conceptions. For it can nohow be permitted that one who has
undertaken the duty of preaching the Faith should dare to maintain
opinions contrary to Christ’s gospel and the creed of the
universal Church. What kind of disciples will there be in a place
where such masters teach? What will the people’s religion,
or the salvation of the laity be, where against the interests of human
society the holiness of chastity is uprooted, the marriage-bond
overthrown, the propagation of children forbidden, the nature of the
flesh condemned, and, in opposition to the true worship of the true
God, the Trinity of the Godhead is denied, the
individuality of the persons confounded, man’s soul declared to
be the Divine essence, and enclosed in flesh at the Devil’s will,
the Son of God proclaimed only-begotten in
right of being born of a Virgin, not begotten of the Father, and at the
same time maintained to be neither true offspring of God, nor true child of the virgin: so that after a
false passion and an unreal death, even the resurrection of the flesh
reassumed out of the tomb should be considered fictitious? But it
is vain for them to adopt the name of catholic, as they do not oppose
these blasphemies: they must believe them, if they can listen so
patiently to such words. And so we have sent a letter to our
brethren and fellow-bishops of the provinces of Tarraco, Carthago,
Lusitania and Gallicia, enjoining a meeting of the general synod.
It will be yours, beloved, to take order that our authoritative
instructions be conveyed to the bishops of the aforesaid
provinces. But should anything, which God forbid, hinder the coming together of a general
council of Gallicia The whole
district over which Turribius was Vicar is here called Gallicia,
though, as just above, we find it included the provinces of
Tarraco, Carthago, and Lusitania, as well as
Gallicia.
Letter XVI.
To the Bishops of Sicily.
Leo the bishop to all the bishops throughout Sicily greeting in the Lord.
I. Introductory.
By God’s precepts
and the Apostle’s admonitions we are incited to keep a careful
watch over the state of all the churches: and, if anywhere ought
is found that needs rebuke, to recall men with speedy care either from
the stupidity of ignorance or from forwardness and presumption.
For inasmuch as we are warned by the Lord’s own command whereby the blessed Apostle Peter
had the thrice repeated mystical injunction pressed upon him, that he
who loves Christ should feed Christ’s sheep, we are compelled by
reverence for that see which, by the abundance of the Divine Grace, we
hold, to shun the danger of sloth as much as possible: lest the
confession of the chief Apostle whereby he testified that he loved
God be not found in us: because if he
(through us) carelessly
II. Baptism is to be administered at Easter-tide and not on the Epiphany.
Accordingly when it reached my ears on reliable
testimony (and I already felt a brother’s affectionate anxiety
about your acts, beloved) that in what is one of the chief sacraments
of the Church you depart from the practice of the Apostles’
constitution From this letter it
might be gathered that it was a universal practice of the early Church
based on the precepts of the apostles, to restrict Baptism to the
feasts of Easter and Whitsuntide, and exclude Epiphany. Whereas
as a matter of fact the restriction was almost exclusively Roman; all
the Eastern Churches and a good many of the Western recognizing the
Epiphany as a suitable occasion for the rite. Leo is too fond of
claiming Apostolic authority for his dictates, and none such exists
here, as far as we know.
III. One must distinguish one festival from another in respect of dignity and occasion.
The restoration of mankind has indeed ever
remained immutably fore-ordained in God’s eternal counsel: but the series of
events which had to be accomplished in time through Jesus Christ our
Lord was begun at the Incarnation of the
Word. Hence there is one time when at the angel’s
announcement the blessed Virgin Mary believed she was to be with child
through the Holy Ghost and conceived: another, when without loss
of her virgin purity the Boy was born and shown to the shepherds by the
exulting joy of the heavenly attendants: another, when the Babe
was circumcised: another, when the victim required by the Law is
offered for him: another, when the three wise men attracted by
the brightness of the new star It will be
noticed that Leo’s order of events, though probably correct, is
not that of the modern Kalendar, which places the Epiphany (Jan. 6)
soon after the Circumcision (Jan. 1), and not after the Purification
(Feb. 2): unless it was some little time after, Herod’s
cruelty was unnecessarily great in including children of two
years old in his massacre (S.
And again the days are not the same on which by
the divinely appointed passage into Egypt He was withdrawn from wicked
Herod, and on which He was recalled from Egypt into Galilee on His
pursuer’s death. Among these varieties of circumstance must
be included His growth of body: the Lord
increases, as the evangelist bears witness, with the progress of age
and grace: at the time of the Passover He comes to the temple at
Jerusalem with His parents, and when He was absent from the returning
company, He is found sitting with the elders and disputing among the
wondering masters and rendering an account of His remaining
behind: “why is it,” He says, “that ye sought
Me? did ye not know that I must be in that which is My
Father’s S. S. Innumeris
consecratos fuisse virtutibus, where virtutes, as often,
corresponds to the Gk. δυνάμεις. Sacramentorum
mysteria coruscasse: it is instructive to find the two words
here conjoined, Leo so often using them apparently as
equivalents. No one, moreover, after reading this sentence, can
doubt what in early times Western Christians meant by
sacramentum , see Letter XII. chap. 3, &c. S.
IV. The reason explained why Easter and Whitsuntide are the proper seasons for baptism.
Although, therefore, both these things which are
connected with Christ’s humiliation and those which are connected
with His exaltation meet in one and the same Person, and all that is in
Him of Divine power and human weakness conduces to the accomplishment
of our restoration: yet it is appropriate that the power of
baptism should change the old into the new creature on the death-day of
the Crucified and the Resurrection-day of the Dead: that
Christ’s death and His resurrection may operate in the
re-born Renascentibus
(pres. part.) here, not renatis (past). Per
similitudinem et formam mysterii. This was a favourite
interpretation of the symbolism with the fathers. Cf. Serm. LXX.,
chap. 4, and Bright’s n. 97 thereon. Celebrandæ
generaliter gratiæ, where generaliterhas much the
same sense as the Eng. “generally” has in the definition of
a sacrament in the Eng. Ch. Catechism as “generally
necessary to salvation.” S. S. It need hardly
be pointed out that these words, “where the sacrament is the
same,” refer to the sacramentum (in its Leonine sense),
that has just been explained, viz,, that Christus est veritas
et spiritus sanctus est spiritus veritatus.
And that we do not contend for this on our own
conviction but retain it on Apostolic authority, we prove by a
sufficiently apt example, following the blessed Apostle Peter, who, on
the very day on which the promised coming of the Holy Ghost filled up
the number of those that believed, dedicated to God in the baptismal font three thousand of the people who
had been converted by his preaching. The Holy Scripture, which
contains the Acts of Apostles Leo does not often
quote from the Acts, and here he expressly includes it in the Canon,
and alludes to its authenticity (fideli historia docet).
VI. In cases of urgency other times are allowable for baptism.
Wherefore, as it is quite clear that these two
seasons of which we have been speaking are the rightful ones for
baptizing the chosen in Church, we admonish you, beloved, not to add
other days to this observance. Because, although there are other
festivals also to which much reverence is due in God’s honour, yet we must rationally guard this
principal and greatest sacrament as a deep mystery and not part of the
ordinary routine Principalis et
maximi sacramenti custodienda nobis est mystica et rationalis
exceptio (another reading being exemplatio (symbolism),
which Quesnel prefers, thinking that the words have reference to the
appropriateness of this symbolic rite of Baptism being performed at
Easter-tide).
VII. Our Lord’s baptism by John very different to the baptism of believers.
But if any one thinks the feast of the Epiphany,
which in proper degree is certainly to be held in due honour, claims
the privilege of baptism because, according to some the Lord came to St. John’s baptism on the same day, let
him know that the grace of that baptism and the reason of it were quite
different, and is not on an equal footing with the power by which they
are re-born of the Holy Ghost, of whom it is said, “which were
born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of
man, but of God S. S. Baptismi sui in se
condidit sacramentum: the baptism of Christ has very
generally been associated with the Epiphany: the record of it,
for instance, in S. Cf. Lett. XXVIII. (The
Tome), chap. vi., where the same explanation of the sacred incident in
the Lord’s passion is given. S.
VIII. The Sicilian bishops are to send three of their number to each of the half-yearly meetings of bishops at Rome.
Wherefore we require this first and foremost for
the keeping of perfect harmony, that, according to the wholesome rule
of the holy Fathers that there should be two meetings of bishops every
year Cf. Lett. XIV., chap. 8,
where the same rule is laid down.
These matters, upon which we thought it necessary to instruct you by the inspiration of the Lord, we wish brought to your knowledge by our brothers and fellow-bishops, Bacillus and Paschasinus. May we learn by their report that the institutions of the Apostolic See are reverently observed by you. Dated 21 Oct., in the consulship of the illustrious Alipius and Ardaburis (447).
Letter
XVII This letter is
suspected by Quesnel as being, if not spurious, at least the production
of some later Leo than our own: but he would seem to have hardly
sufficient ground for his conjecture and the document is interesting as
showing the existence of Church endowments at the time, and alas! of
their mismanagement. Two centuries before indeed we have Cyprian
in Africa uttering a somewhat similar complaint: e.g. de
laps. vi., de unit. eccl. xxvi., Lett. XV.
3. It does not appear, however, there that the clergy actually
misappropriated Church funds, only that they were greedy and intent on
worldly gain.
To All the Bishops of Sicily.
(Forbidding the sale of church property except for the advantage of the church).
Leo, the pope Papa. This
title, which in later times came throughout the West to denote
exclusively the Bishop of Rome, was originally in the West no less than
it is still in the East, the common appellation of all priests and
spiritual fathers of the Church.
The occasion of specific complaints claims our attention as having “the care of all the churches,” that we should make a perpetual decree precluding all bishops from adopting as a practice what in two churches of your province has been unscrupulously suggested and wrongfully carried out. Upon the clergy of the church in Tauromenium deploring the destitution they were in from the bishop having squandered all its estates by selling, giving away, and otherwise disposing of them, the clergy of Panormus, who have lately had a new bishop, raised a similar complaint about the misgovernment of the former bishop in the holy synod, at which we were presiding. Although, therefore, we have already given instructions as to what is for the advantage of both Churches, yet lest this vicious example of abominable plundering should hereafter be taken as a precedent, we wish to make this our formal command binding on you, beloved, for ever. We decree, therefore, that no bishop without exception shall dare to give away, or to exchange, or to sell any of the property of his church: unless he foresees an advantage likely to accrue from so doing, and after consultation with the whole of the clergy, and with their consent he decides upon what will undoubtedly profit that church. For presbyters, or deacons, or clerics of any rank who have connived at the churches losses, must know that they will be deprived of both rank and communion: because it is absolutely fair, beloved brethren, that not only the bishop, but also the whole of the clergy should advance the interests of their church and keep the gifts unimpaired of those who have contributed their own substance to the churches for the salvation of their souls. Dated 20 Oct., in the consulship of the illustrious Calepius (447).
Letter XVIII.
To Januarius, Bishop of
Aquileia The Ballerinii’s
conjecture is at least very plausible, that this Januarius was the
successor of that Bishop of Aquileia to whom Letter I. was written 5
years previously upon the same subject of the Pelagian error. The
text of this letter is almost word for word identical with Letter II.,
written to Septimus, Bishop of Altinum, on the same occasion as Lett.
I.
Leo, bishop of the city of Rome, to Januarius, bishop of Aquileia.
Those who renounce heresy and schism and return to the Church must make their recantation very clear: those who are clerics may retain their rank but not be promoted.
On reading your letter, brother, we recognized the
vigour of your faith, which we already were aware of, and congratulate
you on the watchful care you bestow as pastor, on the keeping of
Christ’s flock: lest the wolves, that enter in under guise
of sheep, should tear the simple ones to pieces in their bestial
fierce
Schismaticorum,
considering how easily heresy leads to schism and schism to heresy,
there is no need with Quesnel to consider that Novatians or Donatists
are being here attacked. The Ballerinii say with
justice:—generalis regula hic indicatur omnibus tum
hæreticis tum schismaticis ad ecclesiam redeuntibus
communis. What canon is here
alluded to is uncertain: the Ballerinii think perhaps the 8th
Nicene canon, extending its application from the Cathari or Novatians
to all heresies and schism. Si tamen iterata
tinctione non fuerint maculati. Cf. Can. Afric., 27, neque
permittendum ut rebaptizati ad clericatus gradum promoveantur.
Letter XIX.
To Dorus, Bishop of Beneventum.
Leo, bishop, to Dorus his well-beloved brother.
I. He rebukes Dorus for allowing a junior presbyter to be promoted over the heads of the seniors, and the first and second in seniority for acquiescing.
We grieve that the judgment, which we hoped to
entertain of you, has been frustrated by our ascertaining that you have
done things which by their blame-worthy novelty infringe the whole
system of Church discipline: although you know full well with
what care we wish the provisions of the canons to be kept through all
the churches of the Lord, and the priests of
all the peoples to consider it their especial duty to prevent the
violation of the rules of the holy constitutions by any
extravagances. We are surprised, therefore, that you who ought to
have been a strict observer of the injunctions of the Apostolic See
have acted so carelessly, or rather so contumaciously, as to show
yourself not a guardian, but a breaker of the laws handed on to
you. For from the report of your presbyter, Paul, which is
subjoined, we have learnt that the order of the presbyterate has been
thrown into confusion with you by strange intrigues and vile collusion;
in such a way that one man has been hastily and prematurely promoted,
and others passed over whose advancement was recommended by their age,
and who were charged with no fault. But if the eagerness of an
intriguer or the ignorant zeal of his supporters demanded that which
custom never allowed, viz., that a beginner should be preferred to
veterans, and a mere boy to men of years, it was your duty by diligence
and teaching to check the improper desires of the petitioners with all
reasonable authority: lest he whom you advanced hastily to the
priestly rank should enter on his office to the detriment of those with
whom he associated and become demoralized by the growth within him, not
of the virtue of humility, but of the vice of conceit Ne quem sacerdotali
propere provehebas honore, ad iniuriam eorum quibis sociabatur,
inciperet minorque se fieret: the text is no doubt corrupt,
though the general sense is clear: the emendation minorque
se for miror quis is made almost certain by the quotations
that follow, especially the second. Vos autem
quæritis de pusillo crescere et de maiore minores esse.
This remarkable addition to S. Inordinatum
præposterum. Cf. Lett. XII., chap. 2, n. 8.
II. The presbyters, who gave way, to be degraded with the usurper to the bottom: the rest to keep their places.
The aforesaid presbyters, therefore, who have
declared themselves unworthy of their proper rank, though they even
deserved to be deprived of their priesthood; yet, that we may show the
gentleness of the Apostolic See in sparing them, are to be put last of
all the presbyters of the Church: and that they may bear their
own sentence, they shall be below him also whom they preferred to
themselves by their own judgment: all the other presbyters
remaining in the order which the time of his ordination assigns to
each. And let none except the two aforesaid suffer any loss of
dignity, but let this disgrace attach to those only who chose to put
themselves below a junior who had only lately been ordained: that
they may feel that that sentence of the gospels applies to themselves
when it is said: “with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be
judged: and with what measure ye mete, the same shall be measured
unto you
Letter XX.
To Eutyches, an Abbot of Constantinople.
Leo, the bishop, to his dearly-beloved son, Eutyches, presbyter.
He thanks him for his information about the revival of Nestorianism and commends his zeal.
You have brought to our knowledge, beloved, by
your letter that through the activity of some Quesnel is of opinion
that Eutyches’ letter had accused Domnus, Bishop of Antioch, and
Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus (cf. Lett. CXX., chapters iv. and v.), of
Nestorianizing, and that he thus had gained the approbation of Leo
before his own unsoundness had been made known.
Letter XXI.
From Eutyches to Leo Contrary to my
general plan, I have thought it wiser, in the matter of the Eutychian
controversy, to include other than Leo’s own writings, that the
reader may fulfil the precept audi alteram partem in what
was the most important doctrinal discussion of Leo’s term of
office. This Letter (XXI.) bears the stamp of genuineness upon
it, though the Gk. original is not found. It is from a collection
of documents bearing on Nestorianism published ex ms. Casinensi, first by Christianus Lupus (?), and
afterwards by Stephanus Baluzius (1630–1718).
I. He states his account of the proceedings at the Synod.
God the Word is before all else
my witness,
See Introduction, p.
vii.
Their holinesses summoned me to reply to his
accusation: but though I was delayed by a serious illness besides
my advanced age, I came to clear myself, knowing well that a faction
had been formed against my safety. And, indeed, together with a
writ of appeal Libelli
sc. (appellationis ad Leonem): this is referred to
by Flavian (Lett. XXVI., chap. iii.) and denied. Of these four
worthies, Athanasius is too well known to need further
notice. Gregorius is either Greg. Nazianzen, Bishop of
Constantinople (circ. 380) or Greg. of Nyssa, both great champions of
the Church against Arianism (not, as the Ball., Greg.
Thaumaturgus, Bishop of Neo-Cæsarea, 244–70):
Julius was a Bishop of Rome (337–52): an excerpt
from one of his letters is printed by the Ball. at the end of this
letter as the passage on which Eutyches based his error, though they
suspect it (not unnaturally) as being an Apollinarian imposition:
Felix is probably no other than the Arian Bishop of Rome, Felix
II. (355–8) whose appointment is characterized by Athanasius as
effected “by antichristian wickedness,” but who is yet a
canonized saint and martyr of the Roman Church (see Schaff’s
Hist., vol. ii. p. 371; iii. 635, 6).
II. His explanations were allowed no hearing.
But without listening to any thing which I said,
they broke up the Synod and published the sentence of my degradation,
which they were getting ready against me before the inquiry. So
much slander were they factiously making up against me that even my
safety would have been endangered had not the help of God at the intercession of your holiness quickly snatched
me from the assault of military force. Then they began to force
the heads of other monasteries Abbots’
signatures are found attached to the condemnation of Eutyches by the
synod of Constantinople. Cf. Letter XXVI.,
chap. ii., propositiones iniuriarum publice ponens et
maledictionibus plenas (Gr. προθεμετα
ὕβρεως καὶ
λοιοορίας
ἀνάμεστα) which is
Flavian’s account of the matter.
III. He appeals to Leo for protection.
I take refuge, therefore, with you the defender of
religion and abhorrer of such factions, bringing in even still nothing
strange against the faith as it was originally handed down to us, but
anathematizing Apollinaris, Valentinus, Manes, and Nestorius, and those
who say that the flesh of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Saviour, descended from heaven and not from the Holy Ghost
and from the holy Virgin, along with all heresies down to Simon
Magus. Yet nevertheless I stand in jeopardy of my life as a
heretic. I beseech you not to be prejudiced against me by their
insidious designs about me, but to pronounce the sentence which shall
seem to you right upon the Faith, and in future not to allow any
slander to be uttered against me by this faction, nor let one be
expelled and banished from the number of the orthodox who has spent his
seventy years of life in continence and all chastity, so that at the
very end of life he should suffer shipwreck. I have subjoined to
this my letter both documents, that which was presented by my accuser
at the Synod, and that which was brought by me but not received, as
well as the statement of my faith and those things which have been
decreed upon the two natures by our holy Fathers Of these four
documents (1) Eusebius’ libellus is preserved in Act I
Chalcedon; (2) is not forthcoming; (3) is appended below; and (4) a
fragment of the testimony of Julius, which is given, does not seem
important enough to be added in this edition, especially as its
genuineness is denied.
I call upon you before God, who gives life to all things, and Christ Jesus, who
witnessed that good confession under Pontius Pilate, that you do
nothing by favour. For I have held the same as my forefathers and
from my boyhood have been illuminated by the same Faith as that which
was laid down by the holy Synod of 318 most blessed bishops who were
gathered at Nicæa from the whole world, and which was confirmed
and ratified afresh for sole acceptance by the holy Synod assembled at
Ephesus: and I have never thought otherwise than as the right and
only true orthodox Faith has enjoined. And I agree to everything
that was laid down about the same Faith by the same holy Synod:
of which Synod the leader and chief was Cyril of blessed memory bishop
of the Alexandrians, the partner and sharer in the preaching and in the
Faith of those saints and elect of God,
Gregory the greater, and the other Gregory Here we have the two
Gregorys mentioned: cf. n. 7. above.
I, Eutyches, presbyter and archimandrite, have subscribed to this statement with my own hand.
Letter XXII There are two Latin
versions of the original Gk. of this letter, an older and a
later: the later, as being more accurate, is here translated,
though Canon Bright would seem to be right (n. 139) in saying that we
must think of Leo as writing the Tome (Lett. XXVIII.) with the older
Latin version of Flavian’s letter before him.
The first from Flavian, Bp. of Constantinople to Pope Leo.
To the most holy and God-loving father and fellow-bishop, Leo, Flavian greeting in theLord.
I. The designs of the devil have led Eutyches astray.
There is nothing which can stay the devil’s
wickedness, that “restless evil, full of deadly poison S.
II. The seductions of heretics capture the unwary.
There are some “in sheep’s clothing,
but inwardly they are ravening wolves S.
III. Eutyches’ heresy stated.
Such a one, therefore, has now shown himself
amongst us, Eutyches, for many years a presbyter and
archimandrite Viz., head of a
monastery (Gk. μάνδρα) or abbot. S. Pudorem
(instead of the impudenter of the mss.) omnem abiciens et pellem quæ eum
circumdabat excutiens, the Gk. version of this somewhat obscure
passage running αἰδῶ
πᾶσαν
ἀποβαλὼν καὶ
ἣν
περιέκειτο
τῆς πλάνης
δορὰν
ἀποτιναξάμενος.
IV. He has sent Leo the minutes of their proceedings that he may see all the details.
But not to make my letter too long by detailing
everything, we have sent your holiness the proceedings which some time
since we took in the matter: therein we deprived him as convicted
on these charges, of his priesthood, of the management of his monastery
and of our communion: in order that your holiness also knowing
the facts of his case may make his wickedness manifest to all the
God-loving bishops who are under your reverence; lest perchance if they
do not know the views which he holds, and of which he has been openly
convicted, they may be found to be in correspondence with him as a
fellow-believer by letter or by other means. I and those who are
with me give much greeting to you and to all the brotherhood in
Christ. The Lord keep you in safety and
prayer for us, O most God-Loving
Father. This was the letter
“which was somewhat unaccountably delayed in its transit to
Rome” (Bright), which reached Leo after XXIII. was written, and
to which Leo refers in the Tome, chap. i., litteris, quas miramur
fuisse tam seras. Bright’s note 139 should be read
throughout as a clear exposition of the preliminary steps in the
controversy.
Letter XXIII.
To Flavian, Bishop of Constantinople.
To his well-beloved brother Flavian the bishop, Leo the bishop.
I. He complains that Flavian has not sent him a full account of Eutyches’ case.
Seeing that our most Christian and merciful
Emperor, in his holy and praiseworthy faith and anxiety for the peace
of the Catholic Church, has sent us a letter This letter from
Theodosius II. came soon after Eutyches, letter (XXI), and
“apparently gave Leo the impression, that Eutyches had been badly
treated.” Bright. See Letter XXI.,
above. Contestatorios
libellos. See Lett. XXI., chap. ii.
II. And now demands it.
And therefore, brother, signify to us in a full account
by the hand of the most fit and competent person, what innovation has
arisen against the ancient faith, which needed to be corrected by so
severe a sentence. For both the moderation of the Church and the
devout faith of our most godly prince insist upon our showing much
anxiety for the peace of Christendom: that dissensions may be
cleared away and the Catholic Faith kept unimpaired, and that those
whose faith has been proved may be fortified by our authority, when
those who
Letter XXIV.
To Theodosius Augustus II.
Leo the bishop, to Theodosius Augustus.
I. He praises the Emperor’s piety and mentions Eutyches’ appeal.
How much protection the Lord has vouchsafed His Church through your clemency and
faith, is shown again by this letter which you have sent me: so
that we rejoice at there being not only a kingly, but also a priestly
mind within you. Seeing that, besides your imperial and public
cares, you have a most devout anxiety for the Christian religion, lest
schisms or heresies or other offences should grow up among God’s people. For your realm is then in its
best state when men serve the eternal and unchangeable Trinity by the
confession of one Godhead Is it fanciful to
trace an analogy between these words and the language of the Collect
for Trinity Sunday (out of the Sacramentary of Gregory), “grace
by the confession of a true faith to acknowledge the glory of the
Eternal Trinity, and in the power of the Divine Majesty to worship the
Unity?”
II. He finds fault with Flavian’s silence.
But the statement of bishop Eusebius, his accuser,
copies of which the said presbyter has sent us, contained nothing clear
about his objections, and though he charged a presbyter with heresy, he
did not say expressly what opinion he disapproved of in him:
although the bishop himself also professed that he adhered to the
decrees of the Nicene synod: for which reason we had no means of
learning anything more fully. And because the method of our Faith
and the laudable anxiety shown by your piety requires the merits of the
case to be known, there must now be no place allowed for deception, but
we must be informed of the points on which he considers him unsound,
that the right judgment may be passed after full information. I
have sent a letter to the aforesaid bishop, from which he may gather
that I am displeased at his still keeping silence upon what has been
done in so grave a matter, when he ought to have been forward in
disclosing all to us at the outset: and we believe that even
after the reminder he will acquaint us with the whole, in order that,
when what now seems obscure, has been brought into the light, judgment
may be passed agreeably to the teaching of the Gospels and the
Apostles. Dated the 18th of February Quesnel reads the 1st
of March as the date.
Letter XXV.
From Peter Chrysologus, Bishop of Ravenna, to Eutyches, the Presbyter.
[In answer to a letter from Eutyches, he urges him to accept the decisions of the Church on the Faith in fear and without too close inquiry, and to abide by the ruling of the bishop of Rome.]
Letter
XXVI In reading the Tome
(Lett. XXVIII.) the reader is warned to remember that he must take no
account of this letter, which did not reach Leo until later, and which
is acknowledged in Lett. XXXVI. dated a week after the Tome.
Bright (n. 139). There are two versions of this letter also, the
ancient one and a modern one by Joannes Cotelerius, which latter, as
being a more exact reproduction of the Gk. original, we have taken as
the basis of our English translation.
A Second One from Flavian to Leo.
To the most holy and blessed father and fellow-minister Leo, Flavian greeting in the Lord.
Nothing, as you know, most beloved of God, is more precious to priests than piety and the right
dividing of the word of truth. For all our hope and safety, and
the recompense of promised good depend thereon. For this reason
we must take all pains about the true Faith, and those things which
have been set forth and decreed by the holy Fathers, that always, and
in all circumstances, they may be kept and guarded whole and
uninjured. And so it was necessary on the present occasion for
us, who see the orthodox Faith suffering harm, and the heresy of
Apollinaris and Valentinus being revived by the wicked monk Eutyches,
not to overlook it, but publicly to disclose it for the people’s
safety. For this man: this Eutyches, keeping his diseased
and sickly opinion hid within him, has dared to attack our gentleness,
and unblushingly and shamelessly to instil his own blasphemy into many
minds: saying that before the Incarnation indeed, our Saviour
Jesus Christ had two natures, Godhead and manhood: but that after
the union they became one nature; not knowing
Ignarus: it will be remembered that in the Tome (chap. i.)
this is the chief fault which Leo also has to find with Eutyches,
calling him multum imprudens et nimis imperitis, &c. So in Lett. XXII.,
chap. iii., Domini corpus non esse quidem corpus hominis, humanum
autem corpus esse quod ex Virgine est.
II. The means Eutyches has taken to circumvent the Synod.
And this notwithstanding that the acts of
Ephesus The date of
this Council is 431 b.c. Saltem secundis
curare priora (Gk. κἂν
τοῖς
δευτέροις
ἰάσασθαι τὰ
πρότερα).
III. He acknowledges the receipt of Leo’s letter.
But after all this had occurred, your
holiness’ letter was conveyed to us by the most honourable count
Pansophius: and from it we learnt that the same Eutyches had sent
you a letter full of falsehood and cunning, saying that at the time of
trial he had presented letters of appeal to us, and to the holy synod
of bishops who were then present, and had appealed to your
holiness: this he certainly never did, but in this matter, too,
he has been guilty of deceit, like the father of lies, thinking to gain
your ear. Therefore, most holy father, being stirred by all that
he has ventured, and by what has been done, and is being done against
us and the most holy Church, use your accustomed promptitude as becomes
the priesthood, and in defending the commonweal and peace of the holy
churches, consent by your own letter Cf. Lett. XXVII., n.
7, where the difference between Flavian’s request here and in
Lett. XXII., chap iv., is pointed out.
Letter XXVII.
To Flavian, Bishop of Constantinople.
Leo to Flavian, bishop of Constantinople.
An acknowledgment of Flavian’s first letter and a promise of a fuller reply.
On the first opportunity we could find, which was
the coming of our honourable son Rodanus, we acknowledge, beloved, the
arrival of your packet
Epistolas. This refers to Lett. XXII., and includes
the gesta (or minutes of the synod’s proceedings) which
accompanied it. This is the Tome
(Letter XXVIII.): it will be noticed that Flavian (in Lett.
XXII.) had not asked for any instructions, but only that Leo should
inform the bishops under his jurisdiction of Eutyches’ deposition
(chap. iv.). Flavian’s second letter (XXVI.), however, does
mention vestras sacras litteras, which he hopes will avoid the
necessity of a council (chap. iii.). Leo himself seems to be
conscious of this: for in Letter XXXIII., chap. 2, he twice
pointedly puts in the word “seems,” as if Flavian had not
expressed himself quite clearly: “the points which he seems
to have referred to us,” and “this error which seems to
have arisen.”
Letter XXVIII.
To Flavian commonly called “the Tome.”
I. Eutyches has been driven into his
error by presumption and ignorance The original word
(imperitia) implies that a recluse like Eutyches (an
archimandrite of a convent) ought never to have entered into a nice
controversy like the present: he has not enough savoir
faire, and his knowledge is not quite up to date, is a little
old-fashioned.
Having read your letter, beloved, at the late
arrival of which we are surprised The exact reason of
the delay is not altogether certain: we know Flavian had written
much earlier than the date of arrival warranted: it is No. XXII.
in the series. Viz., the proceedings
of the σύνοδος
ἐνδημοῦσα
summoned by Flavian at Constantinople. Impia
sapere, to think disloyal things against God: cf. the
recta sapere, “to have a right judgment” of the
Collect for Whitsunday. Knowledge of and
belief in the principles of the Faith as contained in the Creed
(symbolum) have of course always been required
before Baptism from very early times. Leo here calls catechumens
regenerandi, just as those who are being baptized are spoken of
as renascentes (e.g. Lett. XVII. 8), those who have been
baptized as renati (passim), and the rite
itself as sacramentum regenerationis (e.g. Lett. IX. 2).
II. Concerning the twofold nativity and nature of Christ.
Not knowing, therefore, what he was bound to think
concerning the incarnation of the Word of God,
and not wishing to gain the light of knowledge by researches through
the length
The Latin unicus
is not so exact as the Greek original μονογενής:
elsewhere, however, unigenitus is used. N.B. et (and)
not ex (out of). The language of the
Nicene Creed. I.e. by the
Devil: the allusion is to Adam’s fall in Paradise. Sua
virtute: in patristic Latin virtus is, as is well
known, usually the translation of the Greek δύναμις and has a much
wider meaning than moral excellence, our virtue.
But if he could not draw a rightful understanding
(of the matter) from this pure source of the Christian belief, because
he had darkened the brightness of the clear truth by a veil of
blindness peculiar to himself, he might have submitted himself to the
teaching of the Gospels. And when Matthew speaks of “the
Book of the Generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of
Abraham S. ei. So
the Vulgate. This was the third
dogma of Apollinaris (more fully stated in Lett. CXXIV. 2 and CLXV. 2)
that our Lord’s acts and sufferings as man belonged entirely to
His Divine nature, and were not really human at all. S. In nobis, which
he seems from the immediately following words to interpret as meaning
“in our flesh,” and not “amongst us,” as the
R.V. and others. Quam spiritu
vitæ rationalis (λογικοῦ)
animavit.
Without detriment therefore to the properties of
either nature and substance which then came together in one
person A famous passage
quoted by Hooker, Eccl. Pol. v. 53, 2, and Liddon Bampt. Lect., p.
267. Compare Serm. lxii. 1, quod…in unam personam
concurrat proprietas utriusque substantiæ (Bright), also xxii.
2, xxiii. 2. Quod nostris
remediis congruebat, where remedia must mean the disease
which needs remedies (a sort of passive use). This passage from
“Thus in the whole” to “not the failing of
power” is repeated again in Sermon xxiii. 2, almost word for
word. The reference, of
course, is to Compare S. Aug. ad
Catech. § 6, humilitas Christi quid est? manum Deus homini
iacenti porrexit: nos cecidimus, ille descendit: nos
iacebamus, ille se inclinavit. Prendamus et surgamus ut non in
pœnam cadamus. De
prævaricatoris consortio: prævaricator
originally is a legal term, signifying “a shuffler” in a
suit, an advocate who plays into the hands of the other side. Pietas, as
in the collect for xvi. S. aft. Trin., where the English,
“pity” represents the Latin “pietas”
philologically as well as in meaning. Cf. n. 2 in chap. vi. Sacramento,
(μυστηρίῳ):
what the “mystery” was is finely set forth by Canon
Bright’s hymn, No. 172, H. A. and M. (new edition). The whole of the end
of this chapter from “For inasmuch as,” and the beginning
of the next down to “laws of death,” is repeated word for
word in Sermon XXII., chaps. i. and ii.
IV. The properties of the twofold nativity and nature of Christ are weighed one against another.
There enters then these lower parts of the world
the Son of God, descending from His heavenly
home and yet not quitting His Father’s glory, begotten in a new
order by a new nativity. In a new order, because being invisible
in His own nature, He became visible in ours, and He whom nothing could
contain was content to be contained
Incomprehensibilis voluit comprehendi. Canon
Bright’s references are most apposite: “compare Serm.
lxviii., idem est qui impiorum manibus comprehenditur et qui nullo
fine concluditur: and Serm. xxxvii. 1, genetricis
gremio continetur qui nullo fine concluditor. This
‘antithesis’ has been grandly expressed in Milman’s,
‘Martyr of Antioch.’ “‘And Thou wast laid within
the tomb… Whom heaven could not contain, Nor the immeasurable plain Of vast infinity enclose or circle
round.’” I.e. , there is no
fancy, no pretending: each nature is in equal reality present,
the human as well as the Divine, thus opposing all Docetic and
Monophysite heresies. This passage
(which is repeated in Serm. liv., chap. 2, down to
“injuries”), was objected to by the Illyrian and
Palestinian bishops as savouring of the heresy of Nestorius who
“divided the substance:” but it is obvious that the
same words might have an orthodox meaning in the mouth of one who was
orthodox and to the unorthodox would bear an unorthodox
construction. S. Viz., that it was
laid “in a manger:” the Gk. version has σπαργάνων,
“swaddling clothes,” to represent cunarum and this
meaning is adopted by Bright [and Heurtley], S. Similis est
rudimentis hominum. S. S.
V. Christ’s flesh is proved real from Scripture.
Therefore in consequence of this unity of person
which is to be understood in both natures This is what
theologians call communicatio idiomatum, or in Gk. ἀντίδοσις, the
interchange of the properties of the two natures in Christ. The
passage from the beginning of the chapter to “the Lord of
glory” is somewhat freely adapted from S. Aug., c. Serm. Arian.,
cap. 8. S. A principali
petra. The Gk. version giving ἀπὸ
τῆς
πρωτοτύπου
πέτρας: others translate it
“from the original (or archetypal) rock,” but it seems
better to link the passage more closely with S. S. i.e. not to fall into
the Charybdis of Nestorianism in avoiding the Scylla of
Eutychianism. Fidei
sacramento. Et lavacro
rigaretur et poculo: that is by the two great
“generally necessary” sacraments of which he takes the
water and the blood “from His riven side which flowed” to
be a symbol. This refers to
Some of the
mss. here give Christus for
Spiritus (the reading adopted also by the Vulgate):
in this case you must translate that Christ is the Truth instead
of because of the Spirit, &c.: but see
Westcott’s note in loc.
VI. The wrong and mischievous confession of Eutyches. The terms on which he may be restored to Communion. The sending of deputies to the east.
But when during your cross-examination Eutyches
replied and said, “I confess that our Lord had two natures before the union but after the union
I confess but one This was the only
compromise of his views which Eutyches could be brought to make at the
synod of Constantinople. Though it was rejected, and did not
hinder his condemnation, it was never met with a direct, categorical
refutation. Gestorum ordo,
as before, in chap. 1. A report of the proceedings had
accompanied Flavian’s letter. Fraternitas
vestra: or, as the Gk. version apparently took it, “you
and the rest of the brethren” (ἡ ὑμῶν
ἀδελφότης). It will be remembered
that he had been degraded from the priesthood and deprived of his
monastery, as well as excommunicated: he might be reinstated in
all these privileges, the mercifulness of Leo hints, if he recant his
errors. S. Pietatis, a
beautiful word, expressing now the Father’s pitying protection,
now the children’s loyal affection, and here the Elder
Brother’s love for the younger and weaker. Cf. n. I. on
chap. iii.
Now for the loyal and faithful execution of the
whole matter, we have appointed to represent us our brothers
Julius Bishop of Puteoli. Died at Delos on the
way. The words “of the title of S. Clement” are of
doubtful authenticity, and not found in the Gk. version. The
parish churches of Rome seem to have been called tituli at
their first founding about the beginning of the 4th cent. a.d. Cf. our Eng. term “title,” and
refer to Bingham, Bk. viii. § 1. Afterwards
Leo’s successor in the see of Rome, 461–8.
The 13 June, 449, in the consulship of the most illustrious Asturius and Protogenes.
Letter XXIX.
To Theodosius Augustus.
To Cæsar Theodosius, the most religious and
devout Augustus Leo pope of the CatholicChurch of the city of
Rome This is the
title retained by Quesnel and the Ballerinii, though many mss. exhibit the simpler gloriosissimo et
clementissimo Theodosio Augusto Leo episcopus, which is favoured by
the Gk. version τῷ
ἐνδοξοτάτῳ
καὶ
φιλανθρωποτάτῳ
κ.τ.λ. Quesnel takes occasion to warn us to
distinguish between this use of the title papa and that adopted
later when it was equivalent to œcumenicus et universalis
episcopus.
He notifies the appointment of his representatives at the Council of Ephesus.
How much God’s
providence vouchsafes to consult for the interests of men is shown by
your merciful care which, incited by God’s Spirit, is unwilling that there should be any
disturbance or difference: since the Faith, which is absolutely
one, cannot be different from itself in any thing. Hence although
Eutyches, as the minutes of the bishops’ proceeds reveals, has
been detected in an ignorant and unwise error, and ought to have
withdrawn from his conviction which is rightly condemned, yet since
your piety which loves the Catholic Truth with great jealousy for
God’s honour, has determined on a
synodal judgment at Ephesus, that that Truth on
Viz., Lett. XXI.,
chaps. i. and iii.
Letter XXX.
To Pulcheria Augusta.
Much shorter than, but to nearly the same effect as, xxxi., which was written on the same day as this. As xxx. has a Greek translation accompanying it and is duly dated, whereas xxxi. has neither, the Ballerinii would seem to be correct in thinking that xxx. was despatched but did not reach Pulcheria (cf. Lett. xlv. i.) and that xxxi. was for some reason never used. Of the two we have printed xxxi. by preference, as being the fuller discussion of the subject.
Letter XXXI.
To Pulcheria Augusta This was the Emperor
Theodosius the younger’s sister, a woman of noted zeal in the
cause of the Church: for many years she had practically ruled the
empire owing to her brother’s youthfulness. When the
intrigues of Chrysaphius had brought about a quarrel between brother
and sister, she retired for a time from public life. But becoming
the virgin wife of Marcian, she, through him, helped to effect the
victory of the Catholic cause at the Council of Chalcedon (451).
Leo to Pulcheria Augusta.
I. He reminds Pulcheria of her former services to the Church, and suggests her interference in the Eutychian controversy.
How much protection the Lord has extended to His Church through your clemency, we
have often tested by many signs. And whatever stand the
strenuousness of the priesthood has made in our times against the
assailers of the catholic Truth, has redounded chiefly to your
glory: seeing that, as you have learnt from the teaching of the
Holy Spirit, you submit your authority in all things to Him, by whose
favour and under whose protection you reign. Wherefore, because I
have ascertained from my brother and fellow-bishop Flavian’s
report, that a certain dispute has been raised through the agency of
Eutyches in the church of Constantinople against the integrity of the
Christian faith (and the text of the synod’s minutes has shown me
the exact nature of the whole matter), it is worthy of your great name
that the error which in my opinion proceeds rather from ignorance than
ingenuity, should be dispelled before, with the pertinacity of
wrong-headedness, it gains any strength from the support of the
unwise. Because even ignorance sometimes falls into serious
mistakes, and very frequently the simple-minded rush through unwariness
into the devil’s pit: and it is thus, I believe, that the
spirit of falsehood has crept over Eutyches: so that, whilst he
imagines himself to appreciate the majesty of the Son of God more devoutly, by denying in Him the real presence of
our nature, he came to the conclusion that the whole of that Word which
“became flesh” was of one and the same essence. And
greatly as Nestorius fell away from the Truth, in asserting that Christ
was only born man of His mother, this man also departs no less far from
the catholic path, who does not believe that our substance was brought
forth from the same Virgin: wishing it of course to be understood
as belonging to His Godhead only; so that that which took the form of a
slave, and was like us and of the same form Quod nostri
similis fuit atque conformis.
II. Man’s salvation required the union of the two natures in Christ.
But it is of no avail to say that our Lord, the Son of the blessed Virgin Mary, was true and
perfect man, if He is not believed to be Man of that stock which is
attributed to Him in the Gospel. For Matthew says, “The
book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of
Abraham S. Sub iugo diaboli
generaliter teneretur humana captivitas: for the word
generaliter, cf. Letter XVI., chap. iv., no. 3.
III. From the union of the two natures flows the grace of baptism. He makes a direct appeal to Pulcheria for her help.
But from Christ’s marvellous sharing of the
two natures, the mystery of regeneration shone upon us that through the
self-same spirit, through whom Christ was conceived and born, we too,
who were born through the desire of the flesh, might be born again from
a spiritual source: and consequently, the Evangelist speaks of
believers as those “who were born not of bloods, nor of the will
of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God S.
IV. His personal presence at the council must be excused. The question at issue is a very grave one.
But the most august and Christian Emperor, being
anxious that the disturbances may be set at rest with all speed, has
appointed too short and early a date for the council of bishops, which
he wishes held at Ephesus, in fixing the first of August for the
meeting: for from the fifth of May, on which we received His
Majesty’s letter, most of the time remaining has to be spent in
making complete arrangements for the journey of such priests as are
competent to represent me. For as to the necessity of my
attending the council also, which his piety suggested, even if there
were any precedent for the request, it could by no means be managed
now: for the very uncertain state of things at present would not
permit my absence from the people of this great city: and the
minds of the riotously-disposed might be driven to desperate deeds, if
they were to think that I took occasion of ecclesiastical business to
desert my country
Patriam. I can see very little ground for pressing this
quite general expression to mean that he was a native of Rome, or even
a native of Italy. The most that can be said is that it does not
forbid the supposition. Let the reader
beware of accepting the plausible account here suggested of the
formation of the Apostles’ Creed, and still more so of accepting
the popular derivation of the word symbolum (σύμβολον)
as the twelve Apostles’ twelve “contributions” (one
each) to the Church’s rule of faith. Communio sui
ordinis.
Letter XXXII.
To the Archimandrites of
Constantinople It will be
remembered that 23 abbots signed the condemnation of Eutyches:
cf. Lett. XXI. chap. 2.
To his well-beloved sons Faustus, Martinus, and the rest of the archimandrites, Leo the bishop.
He acknowledges their zeal and refers them to the Tome.
As on behalf of the faith which Eutyches has tried
to disturb, I was sending legates de latere De latere
meo. This is interesting as an early instance of the use of
this expression for the legates of the pope (now so familiar):
even though Quesnel is incorrect in saying for certain that Leo is the
first Bishop of Rome who employed them. He himself quotes Concil.
Sardic., canon 7, where the fathers ask the Roman bishop to send some
one e latere suo (a.d.
347). I cannot doubt he
has Viz., Letter XXVIII.
(The Tome).
Letter XXXIII.
To the Synod of Ephesus This letter
has a note prefixed to it in some Gk. and Latin mss. to the effect that it was produced but suppressed,
and not allowed to be read through Dioscorus, Bishop of
Alexandria.
Leo, bishop, to the holy Synod which is assembled at Ephesus.
I. He commends the Emperor’s appeal to the chair of Peter.
The devout faith of our most clement prince,
Utrumque
(Γκ. ἑκάτερον)
unus. S.
II. The heresy of Eutyches is to be condemned, though his full repentance may lead to his restitution.
But because the healing even of such men must not
be neglected, and the most Christian Emperor has piously and devoutly
desired a council of bishops to be held, that all error may be
destroyed by a fuller judgment, I have sent our brothers Julius the
bishop, Renatus the presbyter, and my son Hilary the deacon, and with
them Dulcitius the notary, whose faith we have proved, to be present in
my stead at your holy assembly, brethren, and settle in common with you
what is in accordance with the Lord’s
will. To wit, that the pestilential error may be first condemned,
and then the restitution of him, who has so unwisely erred, discussed,
but only if embracing the true doctrine he fully and openly with his
own voice and signature condemns those heretical opinions in which his
ignorance has been ensnared: for this he has promised in the
appeal which he sent to us, pledging himself to follow our judgment in
all things Cf. Lett. XXI.,
chaps. i. and ii. See Lett. XXVII.,
n. 7.
Letter XXXIV.
To Julian, Bishop of Cos.
Leo, the bishop, to Julian, the bishop, his well-beloved brother.
I. Eutyches is now clearly seen to have deviated from the Faith.
Your letter, beloved, which has just reached me,
shows with what spiritual love of the Catholic Faith you are
inspired: and it makes me very glad that devout hearts all agree
in the same opinion, so that according to the teaching of the Holy
Ghost there may be fulfilled in us what the Apostle says:
“Now I beseech you, brethren, through the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same
things, and there be no divisions among you: but that ye be
perfect in the same mind and in the same judgment See Lett. XX.,
above.
II. He announces the appointment of legates a latere.
And because our most clement Emperor in the
loving-kindness and godliness of his mind wished a more careful
judgment to be passed about the position of one who hitherto has seemed
to be in high esteem, and for this purpose has thought fit to convene a
council of bishops, by the hands of our brothers Julius the bishop, and
Renatus the presbyter, and also my son Hilary, the deacon whom I have
sent ex latere See Lett. XXXII., n.
9, above. This letter
(XXXIV.) is written on the same day and subject and to the same person
as the next letter (XXXV.): the differences between them being
(l) the greater length and fuller treatment of the second; and (2) that
the one is entrusted to Leo’s legates, the other to Julius’
own messenger, Basil the deacon; and (3) that the shorter has no Gk.
version as the longer has. I think the Ballerinii are undoubtedly
right in facing the difficulty boldly, the evidence of the mss. being invariable, except that XXXIV. is only found in
a few collections: and I would suggest that XXXIV. is a formal,
official communication, and XXXV. a private, confidential one.
This will account for the difference of messengers, and the identity of
date, subject and person addressed, and is justifiable as a piece of
necessary diplomatic secrecy. In XXX. and XXXI. we have another
instance of two letters to the same person on the same day, one of
these (XXXI.) being also without a Gk. version, this time the longer
one: but here we have adopted the Ballerinii’s suggestion
that only the first was sent. It should further be noticed that
out of the very large batch of letters that are dated the 13th of June,
which includes the Tome (8 in all. XXVIII.–XXXV.), it may well
have been convergent to delay one and send it by another
hand.
Letter XXXV.
To Julian, Bishop of Cos See Lett. XXXIV.,
chap. ii. n. 5.
Leo, bishop of the city of Rome to his well-beloved brother, Julian the bishop.
I. Eutyches’ heresy involves many other heresies.
Although by the hands of our brothers, whom we
have despatched from the city on behalf of the Faith, we hare sent a
most full refutation of Eutyches’ excessive heresy to our brother
Flavian, yet because we have received, through our son Basil, your
letter, beloved, which has given us much pleasure from the fervour of
its catholic spirit, we have added this page also which agrees with the
other document, that you may offer a united and strenuous resistance to
those who seek to corrupt the gospel of Christ, since the wisdom and
the teaching of the Holy Spirit is one and the same in you as in
us: and whosoever does not receive it, is not a member of
Christ’s body and cannot glory in that Head in which he denies
the presence of his own nature. What advantage is it to that most
unwise old man under the name of the Nestorian heresy to mangle the
belief of those, whose most devout faith he cannot tear to
pieces: when in declaring the only-begotten Son of God to have been so born of the blessed Virgin’s
womb that He wore the appearance of a human body without the reality of
human flesh being united to the Word, he departs as far from the right
path as did Nestorius in separating the Godhead of the Word from the
substance of His assumed Manhood The Gk. version here
adds and “from the very conception of the Virgin,” but this
is probably only a repetition of the words “of the Virgin’s
womb,” just above. It can escape no one
that he is here, and frequently throughout this letter, quoting from
the Creed.
Sacramenta.
II. The two natures are to be found in Christ.
Or because the signs of His Godhead were
undoubted, shall the proof of his having a human body be assumed false,
and thus the indications of both natures be accepted to prove Him
Creator, but not be accepted for the salvation of the creature i.e. shall the
signs of His being God, which are undoubted, and the signs that He had
a body of some sort be allowed to prove Him one with the Creator of the
world, but not go so far as to show that that body which He had was a
fully human one? So
that—in death, bracketed by the editors as not being
translated in the Gk. version, and perhaps here we have a gloss to
explain the somewhat obscure words that precede it: but
throughout this letter large portions are so bracketed, in each case
the Gk. version omitting them.
III. The soul of Christ and the body of Christ were real in the full human sense, though the circumstances of His birth were unique.
[But as to that which Eutyches dared to say in the
court of bishops “that before the Incarnation there were two
natures in Christ, but after the Incarnation one Cf. the Tome, Lett.
XXVIII., chap. vi., n. 5. Cf. Lett. XV., chap.
xi., n. 6. Here again the second
clause (in brackets) seems a gloss on the first, see n. 2, above:
what is meant will be seen by comparing S. Paul’s famous
disquisition (
Letter XXXVI.
To Flavian, Bishop of Constantinople.
(He acknowledges the receipt of Flavian’s second letter (xxvi.) and protests against the necessity for a general council, though at the same time he acquiesces in it. Dated 21 June, a week after the Tome).
Letter
XXXVII This letter is on the
same subject as Lett. XXIX. above, but as the wording of it contains
some interesting matter, it is here given in full. There is no
Gk. version extant, and how there came to be two letters within a week
of one another on the same topic is not clear.
To Theodosius Augustus.
Leo to Theodosius Augustus.
Unity of Faith is essential but the point at issue hardly required a general council, it is so clear.
On receiving your clemency’s letter, I
perceived that the universal Church has much cause for joy, that you
will have the Christian Faith, whereby the Divine Trinity is honoured
and worshipped, to be different or out of harmony with itself in
nothing. For what more effectual support can be given to human
affairs in calling upon God’s mercy than
when one thanksgiving, and the sacrifice of one confession is offered
to His majesty by all. Wherein the devotions of the priests and
all the faithful will reach at last their completeness, if in what was
done for our redemption by God the Word, the
only Son of God, nothing else be believed than
what He Himself ordered to be preached and believed. Wherefore
although every consideration prevents my attendance on the day which
your piety has fixed for the councils of bishops Cf. Lett. XXIX.
above, and especially XXXI., chap. iv., where the reasons are given
rather more fully.
Letter XXXVIII If we are right in
thinking that Lett. XXXVI. is Leo’s acknowledgment of
Flavian’s second letter (XXVI.), this (which again has no Gk.
version) must be an acknowledgment of yet a third, not extant, sent by
the hand of one Basil, the deacon who is probably the same as
Julian’s messenger (XXXV., chap. i ).
To Flavian, Bishop of Constantinople.
Leo to Flavian, bishop of Constantinople.
He acknowledges the receipt of a letter and advises mercy if Eutyches will recant.
When our brethren had already started whom we
despatched to you in the cause of the Faith, we received your letter,
beloved, by our son Basil the deacon, in which you rightly said very
little on the subject of our common anxiety, both because the accounts
which had already arrived had given us full information on every thing,
and because for purposes of private inquiry it was easy to converse
with the aforesaid Basil, by whom now through the grace of God, in whom we trust, we exhort you, beloved, in reply,
using the Apostle’s words, and saying: “Be ye in
nothing affrighted by the adversaries; which is for them a cause of
perdition, but to you of salvation Sc. the Tome
(XXVIII.).
Letter XXXIX.
To Flavian, Bishop of Constantinople.
Leo, the bishop, to Flavian, the bishop.
He rebukes Flavian for not answering his repeated letters.
Our anxiety is increased by your silence, for it
is long now since we received a letter from you, beloved: while
we who bear a chief share in your cares Curarum tuarum
principes. Frequenter,
four times in all ( Letters XXVII., XXVIII., XXXVI. and XXXVIII.). This must be in the
third lost letter to which we have assumed Lett. XXXVIII. to be an
answer.
Letter XL.
To the Bishops of the Province of Arles in Gaul.
To his well-beloved brethren Constantinus
Audentius, Rusticus, Auspicius, Nicetas, Nectarius, Florus, Asclepius,
Justus, Augustalis, Ynantius, and Chrysaphius These twelve bishops
do not include the Bishop of Vienne, according to Perthel (p. 29),
following apparently Quesnel, whose wish-fathered thought, though
possibly right, has little evidence to go upon. Cf. Letters LXV.
and LXVI. below.
He approves of their having unanimously elected Ravennius, Bishop of Arles.
We have just and reasonable reason for rejoicing,
when we learn that the Lord’s priests
have done what is agreeable both to the rules of the Father’s
canons and to the Apostles’ institutions. For the whole
body of the Church must needs increase with a healthy growth, if the
governing members excel in the strength of their authority, and in
peaceful management. Accordingly, we ratify with our sanction
your good deed, brethren, in unanimously, on the death of
Hilary It will be noticed
that Leo speaks of Hilary not only with respect, but as if he
acquiesced in his sentence (passed against Hilary in Lett. X. above)
not having been carried out.
Letter XLI.
To Ravennius, Bishop of Arles.
(He congratulates him on his appointment, exhorts him to firm but gentle government, and advises him frequently to consult the Apostolic See. Undated, but no doubt sent about the same time as XL.)
Letter XLII.
To Ravennius, Bishop of Arles.
Leo the Pope to his well-beloved brother Ravennius.
We wish you to be circumspect and careful lest any blameworthy presumption should put forth undue claims: for, when it once finds an entrance by crafty stealth, it spreads itself into greater rashness in the name of the dignity it has assumed. We have learnt, on the trustworthy evidence of your clergy, that a certain wandering and vagabond Petronianus has boasted himself throughout the provinces of Gaul as our deacon, and under cover of this office is going about the various churches of that country. We desire you, beloved brother, so to check his abominable effrontery, as to disclose his imposture, by warning the bishops of the whole district, and to expel him from communion with all the Churches, lest he continue his claim. The Lord keep you safe, dearly beloved brother. Dated 26th, August, in the consulship of the illustrious Asturius and Protogenes (449).
Letter
XLIII No satisfactory
conclusion can be reached about this letter as it has come down to us,
the Ballerinii not thinking that the Latin version extant is the
original on which the Gk. version is based. On the whole I have
thought it safer to make my translation chiefly from the Gk., though I
am not at all sure that there is sufficient ground for the
Ballerinii’s suspicion of the Latin.
To Theodosius Augustus.
To the most glorious and serene Emperor Theodosius, Leo the bishop.
I. He complains of the conduct of Dioscorus at the Council of Ephesus.
Already and from the beginning, in the synods
which have been held, we have received such freedom of speech from the
most holy Peter, chief of the Apostles, as to have the power both to
maintain the Truth in the cause of peace, and to allow no one to
disturb it in its firm position, but at once to repel the
mischief. Since then the council of bishops which you ordered to
be held in the city of Ephesus on account of Flavian, does mischief to
the Faith itself and inflicts wounds on all the
churches—— A lacuna
is here visible in the sense though not in the mss. The Gk. and the
Lat. both read plural here ἐπισκόπων
(episcopis) which the Ballerinii alter to the singular. As
far as we know, Julius was the only bishop in the party, but the
greater includes the less. Viz., Dioscorus, who
must have been mentioned in the lacuna above, if anywhere.
II. He asks him to restore the ancient catholic doctrine.
Wherefore, most peace-loving prince, vouchsafe for
the Faith’s sake to avert this danger from your Godly conscience,
and let not man’s presumption use violence upon Christ’s
Gospel. In my sincere desire, which is shared by the bishops that
are with me, that you, most Christian and revered prince, should before
all things please God, to whom the prayers of
the whole Church are poured with one accord for your empire, I give you
counsel, for fear lest, if we keep silence on so great a matter, we
incur punishment before the tribunal of Christ. I entreat you
therefore before the undivided Trinity of the one Godhead, which is
injured by these evil doings, and which is the guardian of your
kingdom, and before Christ’s holy angels that all things remain
intact as they were before the judgment, and that they await the
weightier decision of the Synod at which the whole number of the
bishops in the whole world is gathered together: and do not allow
yourselves to bear the weight of others’ misdoing. We are
constrained to say this plainly by the fear of a constraining
necessity The old Lat. version
has here something very different quia quod necesse est nos dicere,
veremur ne cuius religio dissipatur, indignatio provocetur (for we
are bound to say we fear lest He whose religion is being undermined,
should have His wrath aroused). ἡ ἐν
Χριστῷ
τελεία
διαμονή: here again
the Latin Version diverges, reading veræ humanitatis (sc.
confessio) in Christo. So too the next sentence
begins with cui sacramento, instead of the Gk. ἦς
τινος
ὁμολογίας, and
elsewhere.
III. And asks for another Synod to be summoned.
And now that this confession is being godlessly
Letter XLIV.
To Theodosius Augustus.
Leo, the bishop, and the holy Synod which is assembled at Rome to Theodosius Augustus.
I. He exposes the unscrupulous nature of the proceedings at Ephesus.
From your clemency’s letter, which in your love of the catholic Faith you sent sometime ago to the see of the blessed Apostle Peter, we drew such confidence in your defence of truth and peace that we thought nothing harmful could happen in so plain and well-ordered a matter; especially when those who were sent to the episcopal council, which you ordered to be held at Ephesus, were so fully instructed that, if the bishop of Alexandria had allowed the letters, which they brought either to the holy synod or to Flavian the bishop, to be read in the ears of the bishops, by the declaration of the most pure Faith, which being Divinely inspired we both have received and hold, all noise of disputings would have been so completely hushed that neither ignorance could any longer disport itself, nor jealousy find occasion to do mischief. But because private interests are consulted under cover of religion, the disloyalty of a few has wrought that which must wound the whole Church. For not from some untrustworthy messenger, but from a most faithful narrator of the things which have been done, Hilary, our deacon, who, lest he should be compelled by force to subscribe to their proceedings, with great difficulty made his escape, we have learnt that a great many priests came together at the synod, whose numbers would doubtless have assisted the debate and decision, if he who claimed for himself the chief place had consented to maintain priestly moderation, in order that, according to custom, when all had freely expressed their opinion, after quiet and fair deliberation, that might be ordained which was both agreeable to the Faith and helpful to those in error. But we have been told that all who had come were not present at the actual decision: for we have learnt that some were rejected while others were admitted, who at the aforesaid priest’s requisition surrendered themselves to an unrighteous subscription, knowing they would suffer harm unless they obeyed his commands, and that such a resolution was brought forward by him that in attacking one man he might wreak his fury of the whole Church. Which our delegates from the Apostolic See saw to be so blasphemous and opposed to the catholic Faith that no pressure could force them to assent; for in the same synod they stoutly protested, as they ought, that the Apostolic See would never receive what was being passed: since the whole mystery of the Christian Faith is absolutely destroyed (which Heaven forfend in your Grace’s reign), unless this abominable wickedness, which exceeds all former blasphemies, be abolished.
II. And entreats the Emperor to help in reversing their decision.
But because the devil with wicked subtlety
deceives the unwary, and so mocks the imprudence of some by a show of
piety as to persuade them to things harmful instead of profitable, we
pray your Grace, renounce all complicity in this endangering of
religion and Faith, and afford in the treatment of Divine things that
which is granted in worldly matters by the equity of your laws, that
human presumption may not do violence to Christ’s Gospel.
Behold, I, O most Christian and honoured Emperor, with my
fellow-priests Cum
consacerdotibus meis. The Gk. version here reads the singular
(μετὰ
τοῦ
συλλειτουργοῦ
μου). This, if intentional and not a slip,
is, I suppose, Flavian, of whose death Leo was not yet apprized.
III. He asks for a Council in Italy.
And because this mystery is now being impiously
opposed by a few ignorant persons, all the churches of our parts, and
all the priests entreat your clemency, with groans and tears seeing
that our delegates faithfully protested, and bishop Flavian gave them
an appeal in writing, to order a general synod to be held in Italy,
which shall either dismiss or appease all disputes in such a way that
there be nothing any longer either doubtful in the Faith or divided in
love, and to it, of course, the bishops of the Eastern provinces must
come, and if any of them were overcome by threats and injury, and
deviated from the path of truth, they may be fully restored by
health-giving measures, and they themselves, whose case is harder, if
they acquiesce in wiser counsels, may not fall from the unity of the
Church. And how necessary this request is after the lodging of an
appeal is witnessed by the canonical decrees passed at Nicæa by
the bishops of the whole world, which are added below Both Quesnel and
the Ball. agree that the Canon here quoted by Leo really belongs not to
the Nicene collection, but to that of Sardica (about 344), in which it
stands as no. 4. (Exactly the same mistake is made in Letter
LVI., where Galla Placidia Augusta quotes Canon 5 of Sardica to
Theodosius as secundum definitiones Nicœni concilii).
Cf. Gore’s Leo, pp. 113, 114. The wording of this fourth
Canon is as follows: “Gaudentius, the bishop said, If it
please you to add to this admirable declaration which you have passed,
I propose that whensoever one bishop has been deposed by the judgment
of other bishops, and appeals for his case to be heard in Civitas
Novorum, the other bishop cannot by any means be considered
confirmed in the same See after the appeal of the one who appears to be
deposed, until he receive the decision of the judges
there.” In applying this to the present case, Leo no doubt
proposed to substitute Urbs Roma for Civitas Novorum ,
though this was hardly the same thing.
Letter XLV.
To Pulcheria Augusta.
Leo, the bishop, and the holy Synod which is assembled in the City of Rome to Pulcheria Augusta.
I. He sends a copy of the former letter which failed to reach her.
If the letters respecting the Faith which were despatched to your Grace by the hands of our clergy had reached you, it is certain you would have been able, the Lord helping you, to provide a remedy for these things which have been done against the Faith. For when have you failed either the priests or the religion or the Faith of Christ? But when those who were sent were so completely hindered from reaching your clemency that only one of them, namely Hilary our deacon, with difficulty fled and returned, we thought it necessary to rewrite our letter: and that our prayers may deserve to receive more weight, we have subjoined a copy of the very document which did not reach your clemency, entreating you even more earnestly than before to take under protection that religion in which you excel which will win you the greater glory in proportion to the heinousness of the crimes against which your royal faith requires you to proceed, lest the integrity of the Christian Faith be violated by any plot of man’s devising. For the things which were believed to require setting at rest and healing by the meeting of a Synod at Ephesus, have not only resulted in still greater disturbances of peace but, which is the more to be regretted, even in the overthrow of the very Faith whereby we are Christians.
II. He also sends a copy of his letter to the Emperor and explains its contents.
And they indeed, who were sent, and one of whom,
escaping the violence of the bishop of Alexandria who claims everything
for himself, faithfully reported to us what took place in the Synod,
opposed, as it became them, what I will call the frenzy not the
judgment of one man, protesting that those things which
This is, of course,
Letter XLIV.
III. He asks her to assist his petition with the Emperor.
And that we may be worthy to obtain this, let your well-tried faith and protection, which has always helped the Church in her labours, deign to advance our petition with our most clement Prince, under a special commission so to act from the blessed Apostle Peter; so that before this civil and destructive war gains strength within the Church, he may grant opportunity of restoring unity by God’s aid, knowing that the strength of his empire will be increased by every extension of catholic freedom that his kindly will affects.
Dated 13th of October in the consulship of the illustrious Asturius and Protogenes (449).
Letter XLVI.
From Hilary, then Deacon (afterwards Bishop of Rome) to Pulcheria Augusta.
(Describing his ill-treatment, as Leo’s delegate, by Dioscorus.)
Letter XLVII.
To Anastasius, Bishop of Thessalonica.
(Congratulating him on being present at the synod of Ephesus.)
Letter XLVIII.
To Julian, Bishop of Cos.
(Consoling him after the riots at Ephesus and exhorting him to stand firm.)
Letter XLIX.
To Flavian, Bishop of Constantinople.
(Whose death he is unaware of, promising him all the support in his power.)
Letter L.
To the people of Constantinople, by the hand of Epiphanius and Dionysius, Notary of the Church of Rome.
(Exhorting them to stand firm and consoling them for Flavian’s deposition.)
Letter LI.
To Faustus and other Presbyters and Archimandrites in Constantinople.
(With the same purport as the last.)
Letter LII.
From Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus, to Leo. (See vol. iii. of this Series, p. 293.)
To Leo, bishop of Rome.
I. If Paul appealed to Peter how much more must ordinary folk have recourse to his successor.
If Paul, the herald of the Truth, the trumpet of the
Holy Ghost, had recourse to the great Peter, in order to obtain a
decision from him for those at Antioch who were disputing about living
by the Law, much more do we small and humble folk run to the Apostolic
See to get healing from you for the sores of the churches. For it
is fitting that you should in all things have the pre-eminence, seeing
that your See possesses many peculiar privileges. For other
cities get a name for size or beauty or population, and some that are
devoid of these advantages are compensated by certain spiritual
gifts: but your city has the fullest
It is
sufficient here to quote Eusebius (Hist. Eccl. ii. 25) as one of
the earliest (before 340) maintainers of this tradition. In this
passage he again quotes Gaius of Rome (3rd cent.) and Dionysius of
Corinth (2nd cent.) as corroborative authorities.
Eusebius’s own words are these: “Paul is recorded to
have been beheaded in Rome itself, and Peter likewise to have been
impaled. And this statement is supported by their names, which
remain to this day inscribed in the cemeteries there.”
II. He commends Leo’s zeal against the Manichees, and latterly against Eutychianism, as evidenced especially in the Tome.
Of which thing indeed, though there are many other
proofs to be found, your zeal against the ill-famed Manichæans is
proof enough, that zeal which your holiness has of late years
displayed Viz., in
444: cf. Letter VII. supra, together with the
Emperor’s decree (Lett. VIII.). This is, of
course, the Tome (Lett. XXVIII.). Here
‘nature’ must mean ‘man’s original nature
before the Fall,’ when it was still in the image of Him who so
created it, to which nature Christ’s manhood was a triumphant
return. Otherwise it’s hard to see how Theodoret escapes
the pitfall of Pelagianism.
III. He complains of Dioscorus’ ill-treatment of himself.
For when we expected a stilling of the waves
through those who were sent to Ephesus from your holiness, we have
fallen into yet worse storm. For the most righteous The epithet is shown
by the context to be bitterly sarcastic.
IV. This ill-treatment has come after 20 years’ good work in his diocese of Cyrus.
I bemoan the distress of the Church and yearn
after its peace. For having ruled through your prayers the church
committed to me by the God of the universe for
20 years, neither in the time of the blessed Theodotus, president of
the East, nor in the time of those
V. He appeals to the Apostolic See with confidence.
I however await the verdict of your Apostolic See, and beg and pray your Holiness to succour me when I appeal to your upright and just tribunal, and bid me come to you and show that my teaching follows in the track of the Apostles. For there are writings of mine some 20 years ago, some 18, some 15, and some 12, some again against the Arians and Eunomians, some against the Jews and Greeks some against the Magi in Persia, some also about the universal Providence, others about the nature of God and about the Divine Incarnation. I have interpreted, through the Divine grace, both the Apostolic writings and the prophetic utterances, and it is easy therefrom to gather whether I have kept unswervingly the standard of the Faith, or have turned aside from its straight path. And I beg you not to spurn my petition, nor to overlook the insults heaped on my poor white hairs.
VI. Ought he to acquiesce in his deposition?
First of all, I beg you to tell me, whether I ought to acquiesce in this unrighteous deposition or not. For I await your verdict and, if you bid me abide by my condemnation, I will abide by it, and will trouble no one hereafter, but await the unerring verdict of our God and Saviour. I indeed, the Master God is my witness, care nought for honour and glory, but only for the stumbling-block that is put in men’s way: because many of the simpler folk, and especially those who have been rescued by us from divers heresies, will give credence to those who have condemned us, and perchance reckon us heretics, not being able to discern the exact truth of the dogma, and because, after my long episcopate, I have acquired neither house, nor land, nor obol, nor tomb, only a voluntary poverty, having straightway distributed even what came to me from my fathers after their death, as all know who live in the East.
VII. Being prevented himself, he has sent delegates to plead his cause.
And before all things I entreat you, holy and
God-loved brother, render assistance to my prayers. These things
I have brought to your Holiness’ knowledge, by the most religious
and God-beloved presbyters, Hypatius and Abramius the
chorepiscopi Chorepiscopi
(country bishops) were a kind of suffragan bishop to assist the town
bishops in the remoter parts of their diocese. They continued in
use from the end of the 3rd till the 9th century, when they were
abolished.
Exarchus.
Letter LIII.
A fragment of a letter from Anatolius, Bishop of Constantinople, to Leo (about his consecration).
Letter LIV.
To Theodosius Augustus (asking for a synod in Italy).>
Letters LV. to LVIII.
A series of Letters.
(1) From Valentinian the Emperor to Theodosius Augustus.
(2) From Galla Placidia Augusta to Theodosius Augustus.
(3) From Licinia Eudoxia Augusta to Theodosius Augustus.
(4) From Galla Placidia Augusta to Pulcheria Augusta, all graphically describing how Leo had appealed to them in public to press his suit with Theodosius. Of these, LVI. is subjoined as perhaps the most interesting specimen.
Letter LVI.
(From Galla Placidia Augusta to Theodosius).
To the Lord Theodosius,
Conqueror and
When on our very arrival in the ancient city, we
were engaged in paying our devotion to the most blessed Apostle Peter,
at the martyr’s very altar, the most reverend Bishop Leo waiting
behind awhile after the service uttered laments over the catholic Faith
to us, and taking to witness the chief of the Apostles himself
likewise, whom we had just approached, and surrounded by a number of
bishops whom he had brought together from numerous cities in Italy by
the authority and dignity of his position, adding also tears to his
words, called upon us to join our moans to his own. For no slight
harm has arisen from those occurrences, whereby the standard of the
catholic Faith so long guarded since the days of our most Divine father
Constantine, who was the first in the palace to stand out as a
Christian, has been recently disturbed by the assumption of one man,
who in the synod held at Ephesus is alleged to have rather stirred up
hatred and contention, intimidating by the presence of soldiers,
Flavianus, the bishop of Constantinople, because he had sent an appeal
to the Apostolic See, and to all the bishops of these parts by the
hands of those who had been deputed to attend the Synod by the most
reverend Bishop of Rome, who have been always wont so to attend, most
sacred Lord and Son and adored King, in
accordance with the provisions of the Nicene Synod See no. 9a to
Lett. XLIV., 3, where it is shown that this is a mistake, willful or
otherwise, on Leo’s part.
Letter LIX.
To the Clergy and People of the City of Constantinople.
Leo the bishop to the clergy, dignitaries, and people, residing at Constantinople.
I. He congratulates them on their outspoken resistance to error.
Though we are greatly grieved at the things
reported to have been done recently in the council of priests at
Ephesus, because, as is consistently rumoured, and also demonstrated by
results, neither due moderation nor the strictness of the Faith was
there observed, yet we rejoice in your devoted piety and in the
acclamations of the holy people Sanctæ
plebis acclamationibus. It seems that the people had openly
expressed their disapproval of the maltreatment to which Flavian had
been subjected.
II. They are to be rejected who deny the truth of Christ’s flesh, a truth repeated by every recipient at the Holy Eucharist.
Let such men be rejected by the holy members of
Christ’s Body, and let not catholic
Two things are here
to be noticed: (1) that the allusion appears to be to the formula
of reception then in use at the Eucharist, the priest saying Corpus
Christi, and the recipient answering Amen. Cf. Serm.
xci. 3, sic sacræ mensæ communicare debetis ut nihil
prorsus de veritate corporis Christi et sanguinis ambigatis. Hoc
enim ore sumitar quod fide creditur: et frustra ab illis Amen
respondetur a quibus contra id quod accipitur disputatur; (2)
that infant communion is implied as regular: this we know to have
been the case in much earlier days. Cf. Apost.
Const. viii. 13, Cyprian de Lapsis, ix. and
xxv. &c., also Bingham’s Antiq. xv. chap. iv. §
7. Cf. Sermon LXIII.
7, where much the same language is used.
III. Perfect God and perfect Man were united in Christ.
In this passage let the adversaries of the Truth
say when or according to what nature did the Almighty Father exalt His
Son above all things, or to what substance did He subject all
things. For the Godhead of the Word is equal in all things, and
consubstantial with the Father, and the power of the Begetter and the
Begotten is one and the same always and eternally. Certainly, the
Creator of all natures, since “through Him all things were made,
and without Him was nothing made S. S.
IV. The Sacrament of Baptism typifies and realizes this union to each individual believer.
For such was the state of all mortals resulting
from our first ancestors that, after the transmission of original sin
to their descendants, no one would have escaped the punishment of
condemnation, had not the Word become flesh and dwelt in us, that is to
say, in that nature which belonged to our blood and race. And
accordingly, the Apostle says: “As by one man’s sin
(judgment passed) upon all to condemnation, so also by one man’s
righteousness (it) passed upon all to justification of life. For
as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by
one man’s obedience shall many be made righteous Habentes fidei
testimonium et de justificatione gratiæ et ae communione
naturæ. The reference is to
S. Ipsa est enim
novæ condiiio creaturæ quæ in baptismate non indumento
veræ carnis sed contagio damnatæ vetustatis exuitur ut
efficiatur homo corpus Christi, quia et Christus corpus est
hominis. The most crabbed of the several crabbed passages in
this letter. The mystical transmutation of the believer’s
body into the body of Christ is here referred to the sacrament of
Baptism, while earlier in the letter (chap. ii.) it is described as one
of the effects of Holy Communion.
V. The true doctrine of the Incarnation restated and commended to their keeping.
Wherefore we call Christ not God only, as the Manichæan heretics, nor Man only, as
the Photinian The followers
of Photinus, Bishop of Sirmium (circ. 410 a.d.): for an account of his heretical opinions see
Schaff’s History of the Christian Church, in loc.
Cf. Letter XV. 4. Apollinaristarum
tres partes; see Sermon xxviii. chap. 4 (end) with Bright’s
n. 32 on Apollinarianism generally. S. S.
Letter LX.
To Pulcheria Augusta.
(He hopes for her intercession to procure the condemnation of Eutyches.)
Letter LXI.
To Martinus and Faustus, Presbyters.
(Reminding them of a former letter he has written to them, viz. Lett. LI.)
(Letters LXII., LXIII., LXIV., are the Emperor Theodosius’ answers (a) to Valentinian, (b) to Galla Placidia, and (c) to Licinia Eudoxia (assuring them of his orthodoxy and care for the Faith.)
Letter LXV.
From the Bishops of the Province of Arles.
(Asking Leo to confirm the privileges of that city, which they allege date from the mission of Trophimus, by S. Peter, and more recently ratified by the Emperor Constantine.)
Letter LXVI.
Leo’s Reply to Letter LXV.
Leo, the pope, to the dearly-beloved brethren Constantinus, Armentarius, Audientius, Severianus, Valerianus, Ursus, Stephanus, Nectarius, Constantius, Maximus, Asclepius, Theodorus, Justus Ingenuus, Augustalis, Superventor, Ynantius, Fonteius, and Palladius.
I. The Bishop of Vienne has anticipated their appeal. He proposes to arbitrate with impartiality.
When we read your letter, beloved, which was
brought to us by our sons Petronius the presbyter and Regulus the
deacon, we recognized how affectionate is the regard in which you hold
our brother and fellow-bishop, Ravennius: for your request is
that what his predecessor This, it will be
remembered, was Hillary: see Letter X. above.
II. The bishop of Vienne is to retain jurisdiction over four neighbouring cities: the rest to belong to Arles.
For after considering the arguments advanced by the clergy present on either side, we find that the cities of Vienne and Arles within your province have always been so famous, that in certain matters of ecclesiastical privilege, now one, now the other, has alternately taken precedence, though the national tradition is that formerly they had community of rights. And hence we suffer not the city of Vienne to be altogether without honour, so far as concerns ecclesiastical jurisdiction, especially as it already possesses the authority of our decree for the enjoyment of its privilege: to wit the power which, when taken away from Hilary, we thought proper to confer on the bishop of Vienne. And that he seem not suddenly and unduly lowered, he shall hold rule over the four neighbouring towns, that is, Valentia, Tarantasia, Genava and Gratianopolis, with Vienne herself for the fifth, to the bishop of which shall belong the care of all the said churches. But the other churches of the same province shall be placed under the authority and management of the bishop of Arles, who from his temperate moderation we believe will be so anxious for love and peace as by no means to consider himself deprived of that which he sees conceded to his brother. Dated 5th of May, in the consulship of Valentinianus Augustus (7th time), and the most famous Avienus (450.)
Letter
LXVII This letter, together
with Letters XL., LXV. and LXVI., are found only in the Collection of
Arles (numbered XV. by the Ballerinii).
To Ravennius, Bishop of Arles.
To his dearly-beloved brother Ravennius, Leo the pope.
Vel can
hardly equal et as the Ball. would wish. So that here Leo
recommends either his own Tome or Cyril’s second
letter to Nestorius. Cf. Letter LXIX., chap. i. below; also
Letter LXX.
Letter LXVIII.
From Three Gallic Bishops to St. Leo.
Ceretius, Salonius and Veranus to the holy Lord, most blessed father, and pope most worthy of the Apostolic See, Leo.
I. They congratulate and thank Leo for the Tome.
Having perused your Excellency’s letter,
which you composed for instruction in the Faith, and sent to the bishop
of Constantinople, we thought it our duty, being enriched with so great
a wealth of doctrine, to pay our debt of thanks by at least inditing
you a letter. For we appreciate your fatherly solicitude on our
behalf, and confess that we are the more indebted to your preventing
care because we now have the benefit of the remedy before experiencing
the evils. For knowing that those remedies are well-nigh too late
which are applied after the infliction of the wounds, you admonish us
with the voice of loving forethought to arm ourselves with those
Apostolic means of defence. We acknowledge frankly, most blessed
pope Cf. Lett. XVII.
n. 2a. Peculiares
tui. So in each one’s autograph subscription at the end
of the letter Ceretius calls himself susceptus vester, Salonius
venerator vester, and Veranus cultor vestri
apostolatus.
II. They ask him to correct or add to their copy of the Tome.
Therefore, if you deem it worth while, we entreat
your holiness to run through and correct any mistake of the copyist in
this work, so valuable both now and in the future, which we have had
committed to parchment Foliis.
May Christ the Lord long keep your eminence mindful of our humility, O holy Lord, most blessed father and pope most worthy of the Apostolic See.
I, Salonius, your adorer, salute your apostleship, entreating the aid of your prayers.
I, Veranus, the worshipper of your apostleship, salute your blessedness, and beseech you to pray for me.
Letter LXIX.
(To Theodosius Augustus.)
Leo, the bishop, to Theodosius ever Augustus.
I. He suspends his opinion on the appointment of Anatolius till he has made open confession of the catholic Faith.
In all your piously expressed letters amid the
anxieties, which we suffer for the Faith, you have afforded us hope of
security by supporting the Council of Nicæa so loyally as not to
allow the priests of the Lord to budge from
it, as you have often written us already. But lest I should seem
to have done anything prejudicial to the catholic defence, I thought
nothing rash on either side ought meanwhile to be written back on the
ordination of him who has begun to preside over the church of
Constantinople, and this not through want of loving interest, but
waiting for the catholic Truth to be made clear. And I beg your
clemency to bear this with equanimity that when he has proved himself
such as we desire towards the catholic Faith, we may the more fully and
safely rejoice over his sincerity. But that no evil suspicion may
assail him about our disposition towards him, I remove all occasion of
difficulty, and demand nothing which may seem either hard or
controvertible but make an invitation which no catholic would
decline. For they are well known and renowned throughout the
world, who before our time have shone in preaching the catholic Truth
whether in the Greek or the Latin tongue, to whose learning and
teaching some even of our own day have recourse, and from whose
writings a uniform and manifold statement of doctrine is
produced: which, as it has pulled down the heresy of Nestorius,
so has it cut off this error too which is now sprouting out
again. Let him then read again what is the belief on the
Lord’s Incarnation which the holy
fathers guarded and has always been similarly preached, and when he has
perceived that the letter of Cyril of holy memory, bishop of
Alexandria, agrees with the view of those who preceded him [wherein he
wished to correct and cure Nestorius, refuting his wrong statements and
setting out more clearly the Faith as defined at Nicæa, and which
was sent by him and placed in the library of the Apostolic See
Wherein—see, probably a gloss by way of identifying the
letter: it is the second letter to Nestorius. See Letter
LXVII above. Viz., the third
Ecumenical Council held at Ephesus 431, in which Nestorius was
condemned. Viz., XXVIII (The
Tome). S.
II. He promises to accept Anatolius on making this confession, and asks for a council in Italy to finally define the Faith.
But because both we and our blessed fathers, whose
teaching we revere and follow, are in concord on the one Faith, as the
bishops of all the provinces attest, let your clemency’s most
devout faith see to it that such a document as is due may reach us as
soon as may be from the bishop of Constantinople, as from an approved
and catholic priest, that is, openly and distinctly affirming that he
will separate from his communion any one who believes or maintains any
other view about the Incarnation of the Word of God than my statement and that of all catholics lays down,
that we may fairly be able to bestow on him brotherly love in
Christ. And that swifter and fuller effect, God aiding us, may be given through your clemency’s
faith to our wholesome desires, I have sent to your piety my brethren
and fellow-bishops Abundius and Asterius, together with Basilius and
Senator presbyters, whose devotion is well proved to me, through whom,
when they have displayed the instructions which we have sent, you may
be able properly to apprehend what is the standard of our faith, so
that, if the bishop of Constantinople gives his hearty assent to the
same confession, we may securely, as is due, rejoice over the peace of
the Church and no
Dated 17th July in the consulship of the illustrious Valentinianus for the seventh time) and Avienus (450).
Letter LXX.
To Pulcheria Augusta.
(In which he again says he is waiting for Anatolius’ acceptance of Cyril’s and his own statement of the Faith, and looks forward to a Synod in Italy.)
Letter LXXI.
To the Archimandrites of Constantinople.
(Complaining of Anatolius’ silence.)
Letter LXXII.
To Faustus, One of the Archimandrites at Constantinople.
(Commending his faith and exhorting him to steadfastness.)
Letter LXXIII.
From Valentinian and Marcian.
(Announcing their election as Emperors Valentinian III. had
been nominally Emperor of the West since 425, but his mother’s
(Galla Placidia) death this year compelled him to rule as well as have
the name of ruler: almost simultaneously in the East the death of
Theodisius II. brought to the front his sister Pulcheria and her
soldier husband Marcian.
Letter LXXIV.
To Martinus, Another of the Archimandrites at Constantinople.
(Commending his steadfastness in the Faith.)
Letter LXXV.
To Faustus and Martinus Together.
(Condemning the Latrocinium and maintaining that Eutyches equally with Nestorius promotes the cause of Antichrist.)
Letter LXXVI.
From Marcianus Augustus to Leo.
(Proposing that he should either attend a Synod at Constantinople or help in arranging some other more convenient place of meeting.)
Letter LXXVII.
From Pulcheria Augusta to Leo.
(In which she expresses her assurance that Anatolius is orthodox, and begs him to assist her husband in arranging for the Synod, and announces that Flavian’s body has been buried in the Basilica of the Apostles at Constantinople and the exiled bishops restored.)
Letter LXXVIII.
Leo’s Answer to Marcianus.
(Briefly thanking him.)
Letter LXXIX.
To Pulcheria Augusta.
Leo, bishop of the city of Rome to Pulcheria Augusta.
I. He rejoices at Pulcheria’s zeal both against Nestorius and Eutyches.
That which we have always anticipated concerning
your Grace’s holy purposes, we have now proved fully true, viz.
that, however varied may be the attacks of wicked men upon the
Christian Faith, yet when you are present and prepared by the
Lord for its defence, it cannot be
disturbed. For God will not forsake
either the mystery of His mercy or the deserts of your labours, whereby
you long ago repelled the crafty foe of our holy religion from the very
vitals of the Church: when the impiety of Nestorius failed to
maintain his heresy because it did not escape you the handmaid and
pupil of the Truth, how much poison was instilled into simple folk by
the coloured falsehoods of that glib fellow. And the sequel to
that mighty struggle was that through your vigilance the things which
the devil contrived by means of Eutyches, did not escape detection, and
they who had chosen to themselves one side in the twofold heresy, were
overthrown by the one and undivided power of the catholic
Faith.
II. He thanks her for her aid to the catholic cause, and explains his wishes about the restoration of the lapsed bishops.
Your clemency must know, therefore, that the whole church of Rome is highly grateful for all your faithful deeds, whether that you have with pious zeal helped our representatives throughout and brought back the catholic priests, who had been expelled from their churches by an unjust sentence, or that you have procured the restoration with due honour of the remains of that innocent and holy priest, Flavian, of holy memory, to the church, which he ruled so well. In all which things assuredly your glory is increased manifold, so long as you venerate the saints according to their deserts, and are anxious that the thorns and weeds should be removed from the Lord’s field. But we learn as well from the account of our deputies as from that of my brother and fellow-bishop, Anatolius, whom you graciously recommend to me, that certain bishops crave reconciliation for those who seem to have given their consent to matters of heresy, and desire catholic communion for them: to whose request we grant effect on condition that the boon of peace should not be vouchsafed them till, our deputies acting in concert with the aforesaid bishop, they are corrected, and with their own hand condemn their evil doings; because our Christian religion requires both that true justice should constrain the obstinate, and love not reject the penitent.
III. He commends certain bishops and churches to her care.
And because we know how much pious care your Grace deigns to bestow on catholic priests, we have ordered that you should be informed that my brother and fellow-bishop, Eusebius, is living with us, and sharing our communion, whose church we commend to you; for he that is improperly asserted to have been elected in his place, is said to be ravaging it. And this too we ask of your Grace, which we doubt not you will do of your own free will, to extend the favour which is due as well to my brother and fellow-bishop, Julian, as to the clergy of Constantinople, who clung to the holy Flavian with faithful loyalty. On all things we have instructed your Grace by our deputies as to what ought to be done or arranged. Dated April 13, in the consulship of the illustrious Adelfius (451).
Letter LXXX.
(To Anatolius, Bishop of Constantinople.)
Leo, the bishop, to Anatolius, the bishop.
I. He rejoices at Anatolius having proved himself orthodox.
We rejoice in the Lord
and glory in the gift of His Grace, Who has shown you a follower of
Gospel-teaching as we have found from your letter, beloved, and our
brothers’ account whom we sent to Constantinople: for now
through the approved faith of the priest, we are justifying in
presuming that the whole church committed to him will have no wrinkle
nor spot of error, as says the Apostle, “for I have espoused you
to one husband to present you a pure virgin to Christ
II. The penitents among the backsliding bishops are to be received back into full communion upon some plan to be settled by Anatolius and Leo’s delegates.
But concerning the brethren whom we learn from your
letters, and from our delegates’ account, to be desirous of
communion with us, on the ground of their sorrow that they did
III. The Names of Dioscorus, Juvenal, and Eustathius are not to be read aloud at the holy altar.
Concerning the reading out of the names of
Dioscorus, Juvenal, and Eustathius Juvenal (Bishop of
Jerusalem), and Eustathius (Bishop of Berytus), had been two of the
principal abettors of Dioscorus in the Latrocinium. The
“reading out of their names at the altar” alludes to the
practice in the early Church of keeping registers (called
“diptychs”) of the members (alive and dead) of the Church,
from which one or two of the more prominent names (clerical and lay)
were read out at the celebration of the Holy mysteries: cf. the
modern “Bidding” prayer, &c.
IV. One or two instructions about individuals.
But our brother and fellow-bishop, Julian, and the
clergy who adhered to Flavian of holy memory, rendering him faithful
service, we wish to adhere to you also beloved, that they may know him
who we are sure lives by the merits of his faith with our God to be present with them in you. We wish you to
know this too, beloved, that our brother and fellow-bishop
Eusebius This is the Bishop of
Dorylæum in Phrygia, Eutyches former friend, but more recently his
relentless accuser of heresy.
Letter LXXXI.
To Bishop Julian.
(Warning him to be circumspect in receiving the lapsed.)
Letter LXXXII.
To Marcian Augustus.
I. After congratulating the Emperor on his noble conduct, he deprecates random inquiries into the tenets of the Faith.
Although I have replied i.e. Lett. LXXVIII. of
the series.
II. The points to be settled are only which of the lapsed shall be restored, and on what terms.
But it is most inopportune that through the foolishness of a few we should be brought once more into hazardous opinions, and to the warfare of carnal disputes, as if the wrangle was to be revived, and we had to settle whether Eutyches held blasphemous views, and whether Dioscorus gave wrong judgment, who in condemning Flavian of holy memory struck his own death-blow, and involved the simpler folk in the same destruction. And now that many, as we have ascertained, have betaken themselves to the means of amendment, and entreat forgiveness for their weak hastiness, we have to determine not the character of the Faith, but whose prayers we shall receive, and on what terms. And hence that most religious anxiety which you deign to feel for the proclamation of a Synod, shall have fully and timely put before it all that I judge pertinent to the needs of the case, by means of the deputies who will with all speed, if God permit, reach your Grace. Dated the 23rd of April in the consulship of the illustrious Adelfius (451).
Letter LXXXIII.
To the Same Marcian.
(Congratulating him on his benefits to the Church, and deprecating a Synod as inopportune.)
Letter LXXXIV.
To Pulcheria Augusta.
(Announcing the despatch of his legates to deal with the lapsed, and asking that Eutyches should be superseded in his monastery by a catholic, and dismissed from Constantinople.)
Letter LXXXV.
To Anatolius, Bishop of Constantinople.
Leo, the bishop, to the bishop Anatolius.
I. Anatolius with Leo’s delegates is to settle the question of the receiving back of those who had temporarily gone astray after Eutyches.
Although I hope, beloved, you are devoted to every
good work, yet that your activity may be rendered the more effective,
it was needful and fitting to despatch my brothers Lucentius the bishop
and Basil the presbyter, as we Viz., in Letter LXXX.,
chap, iv.: see also chap. iii. S. Sc. the so-called
Latrocinium. See n. 8 to Letter
LXXX., chap. iii.
II. The case of the more serious offenders must be reserved for the present.
But concerning those who have sinned more gravely
in this matter, and claimed for themselves a higher place in the same
unhappy synod, in order to irritate the simple minds of their lowlier
brethren by their pernicious arrogance, if they return to their right
mind, and ceasing to defend their action, turn themselves to the
condemnation of their particular error, if these men give such
assurance of penitence as shall seem indisputable, let their case be
reserved for the maturer deliberations of the Apostolic See, that when
all things have been sifted and weighed, the right conclusion may be
arrived at about their real actions. And in the Church over which
the Lord has willed you to rule, let none such
as we have already written Viz., in Letter LXXX.,
chap. iii., where see note.
III. Anatolius is requested to co-operate loyally with Leo’s delegates.
But concerning the address
Commonitorium. Nothing further seems known of this.
Letter LXXXVI.
To Julian, Bishop of Cos.
(Begging him for friendship’s and the Church’s sake to assist his legates in quelling the remnants of heresy.)
Letter LXXXVII.
To Anatolius, Bishop of Constantinople.
(Commending to him two presbyters, Basil and John, who being accused of heresy had come to Rome, and quite convinced Leo of their orthodoxy.)
Letter LXXXVIII.
To Paschasinus, Bishop of Lilybæum.
Leo, the bishop, to Paschasinus, bishop of Lilybæum.
I. He sends a copy of the Tome and still further explains the heterodoxy of Eutyches.
Although I doubt not all the sources of scandal
are fully known to you, brother, which have arisen in the churches of
the East about the Incarnation of our Lord
Jesus Christ, yet, lest anything might have chanced to escape your
care, I have despatched for your attentive perusal and study our
letter Sc. Letter XXVIII.
(Tome). Caro
animata.
II. Eutyches might have been warned by the fate of former heretics.
A like blasphemy, therefore, is to be abhorred in
Eutyches, as was once condemned and overthrown by the Fathers in former
heretics: and their example ought to have benefited this foolish
fellow, in putting him on his guard against that which he could not
grasp by his own sense, lest he should render void the peerless mystery
of our salvation by denying the reality of human flesh in our
Lord Jesus Christ. For, if there is not
in Him true and perfect human nature, there is no taking of us upon
Him, and the whole of our belief and teaching according to his heresy
is emptiness and lying. But because the Truth does not lie and
the Godhead is not passible, there abides in God the Word both substances in one Person, and the Church
confesses her Saviour in such a way as to acknowledge Him both
impassible in Godhead and passible in flesh, as says the Apostle,
“although He was crucified through (our) weakness, yet He lives
by the power of God
III. He sends quotations from the Fathers, and announces that the churches of the East have accepted the Tome.
And in order that you may be the fuller instructed in all things, beloved, I have sent you certain quotations from our holy Fathers, that you may clearly gather what they felt and what they preached to the churches about the mystery of the Lord’s Incarnation, which quotations our deputies produced at Constantinople also together with our epistle. And you must understand that the whole church of Constantinople, with all the monasteries and many bishops, have given their assent to it, and by their subscription have anathematized Nestorius and Eutyches with their dogmas. You must also understand that I have recently received the bishop of Constantinople’s letter, which states that the bishop of Antioch has sent instructions to all the bishops throughout his provinces, and gained their assent to my epistle, and their condemnation of Nestorius and Eutyches in like manner.
IV. He asks him to settle the discrepancy between the Alexandrine and the Roman calculation of Easter for 455, by consulting the proper authority.
This also we think necessary to enjoin upon your
care that you should diligently inquire in those quarters where you are
sure of information concerning that point in the reckoning of Easter,
which we have found in the table His Laterculum
Pashale is meant, in which he calculated Easter for 100 years from
375. A similar dispute had ocurred in 444, in which we have S.
Cyril’s and Paschasinus’ Letters (II and III. of series) to
Leo, but not Leo’s answers. The Latin Easter
cycles were calculated for 84 years.
Letter LXXXIX.
To Marcian Augustus.
(Appointing Paschasinus the bishop and Boniface a presbyter, and Julian the bishop, his representatives at the Synod, as the Emperor is determined it should be held at once.)
Letter XC.
To Marcian Augustus.
(Assenting perforce to the meeting of the Synod, but begging him to see that the Faith be not discussed as doubtful.)
Letter XCI.
To Anatolius, Bishop of Constantinople.
(Telling him that he has appointed Paschasinus, Boniface, and Julian, bishop of Cos, to represent him at the Synod.)
Letter XCII.
To Julian, Bishop of Cos.
(Asking him to act as one of his representatives at the Synod.)
To the Synod of Chalcedon.
Leo, the bishop of the city of Rome, to the holy
Synod, assembled at Nicæa In accordance with
instructions, the bishops, to the number of 529, first met at
Nicæa, in Bithynia, the scene of the famous First General
Council: but the Emperor Marcian was afraid to go so far from
Constantinople, and so they were summoned to Chalcedon, which was much
nearer, on the eastern shore of the Bosporus. There the Council
opened on Oct. 8, 451.
I. He excuses his absence from the Synod, and introduces his representatives.
I had indeed prayed, dearly beloved, on behalf of
my dear colleagues that all the Lord’s
priests would persist in united devotion to the catholic Faith, and
that no one would be misled by favour or fear of secular powers into
departure from the way of Truth; but because many things often occur to
produce penitence and God’s mercy
transcends the faults of delinquents, and vengeance is postponed in
order that reformation may have place, we must make much of our most
merciful prince’s piously intentioned Council, in which he has
desired your holy brotherhood to assemble for the purpose of destroying
the snares of the devil and restoring the peace of the Church, so far
respecting the rights and dignity of the most blessed Apostle Peter as
to invite us too by letter to vouchsafe our presence at your venerable
Synod. That indeed is not permitted either by the needs of the
times or by any precedent. Yet in these brethren, that is
Paschasinus and Lucentius, bishops, Boniface and Basil, presbyters, who
have been deputed by the Apostolic See, let your brotherhood reckon
that I am presiding The right of
presiding, which he here virtually claims for his delegates, seems
actually to have been accorded to them by the council.
II. He entreats them to re-State the Faith as laid down in the Tome.
Wherefore, brethren most dear, let all attempts at impugning the Divinely-inspired Faith be entirely put down, and the vain unbelief of heretics be laid to rest: and let not that be defended which may not be believed: since in accordance with the authoritative statements of the Gospel, in accordance with the utterances of the prophets, and the teaching of the Apostles, with the greatest fulness and clearness in the letter which we sent to bishop Flavian of happy memory, it has been laid down what is the loyal and pure confession upon the mystery of our Lord Jesus Christ’s Incarnation.
III. The ejected bishops must be restored, and the Nestorian canons retain their force.
But because we know full well that through evil
jealousies the state of many churches has been disturbed, and a large
number of bishops have been driven from their Sees for not receiving
the heresy and conveyed into exile, while others have been put into
their places though yet alive, to these wounds first of all must the
healing of justice be applied, nor must any one be deprived of his own
possession that some one else may enjoy it: for if, as we desire,
all forsake their error, no one need lose his present rank, and those
who have laboured for the Faith ought to have their rights restored
with every privilege. Let the decrees specially directed against
Nestorius of the former Synod of Ephesus, at which bishop Cyril of holy
memory presided, still retain their force, lest the heresy then
condemned flatter itself in aught because Eutyches is visited with
condign execration. For the purity of the Faith and doctrine
which we proclaim in the same spirit as our holy Fathers, equally
condemns and impugns the Nestorian and the Eutychian misbelief with its
supporters. Farewell in the Lord,
brethren most dear. Dated 26th The Ball. think the
date should be the 27th.
Letter XCIV.
To Marcian Augustus.
(Commending his legates to him and praying for the full success of the Synod, if it adhere to the Faith once delivered to the saints.)
Letter XCV.
To Pulcheria Augusta by the Hand of
Theoctistus the Magistrian The Magistriani
were what would now be called King’s Messengers: another
name for them was agentes in rebus. and they were under the
direction of the Imperial Magister Officiorum.
Leo, the bishop to Pulcheria Augusta.
I. He informs the Empress that he has loyally recognized the Council ordered by her, and sent representatives with letters to it.
Your clemency’s religious care which you
unceasingly bestow on the catholic Faith, I recognize in everything,
and give God thanks at seeing you take such
interest in the universal Church, that I can confidently suggest what I
think agreeable to justice and kindness,
See n. 4 on Letter
XCIII. i.
II. In the settlement of this matter that moderation must be observed which was entirely absent at Ephesus.
For, as I have very often stated in letters from the beginning of this matter, I have desired that such moderation should be observed in the midst of discordant views and carnal jealousies that, whilst nothing should be allowed to be wrested from or added to the purity of the Faith, yet the remedy of pardon should be granted to those who return to unity and peace. Because the works of the devil are then more effectually destroyed when men’s hearts are recalled to the love of God and their neighbours. But how contrary to my warnings and entreaties were their actions then, it is a long story to explain, nor is the need to put down in the pages of a letter all that was allowed to be perpetrated in that meeting, not of judges but of robbers, at Ephesus; where the chief men of the synod spared neither those brethren who opposed them nor those who assented to them, seeing that for the breaking down of the catholic Faith and the strengthening of execrable heresy, they stripped some of their rightful rank and tainted others with complicity in guilt; and surely their cruelty was worse to those whom by persuasion they divorced from innocence, than to those whom by persecution they made blessed confessors.
III. Those who recant their error must be treated with forbearance.
And yet because such men have harmed themselves
most by their wrong-doing, and because the greater the wounds, the more
careful must be the application of the remedy, I have never in any
letter maintained that pardon must be withheld even from them if they
came to their right mind. And although we unchangeably abhor
their heresy, which is the greatest enemy of Christian religion, yet
the men themselves, if they without any doubt amend their ways and
clear themselves by full assurances of repentance, we do not judge to
be outcasts from the unspeakable mercy of God: but rather we lament with those that lament,
“we weep with those that weep
IV. Even the authors of the mischief may find room for forgiveness by repentance.
If, therefore, your clemency deigns to reflect upon my motives, it will be satisfied that I have acted throughout with the design of bringing about the abolition of the heresy without the loss of one soul; and that in the case of the authors of these cruel disturbances I have modified my practice somewhat in order that their slow minds might be aroused by some feelings of compunction to ask for lenient treatment. For although since their decision, which is no less blasphemous than unjust, they cannot be held in such honour by the catholic brotherhood as they once were, yet they still retain their sees and their rank as bishops, with the prospect either of receiving the peace of the whole Church, after true and necessary signs of repentance or, if (which God forbid) they persist in their heresy, of reaping the reward of their misbelief. Dated 20th of July, in the consulship of the illustrious Adelfius (451).
Letter XCVI.
To Ravennius, Bishop of Arles.
(Requesting him to keep Easter on March 23 in 452.)
Letter XCVII.
From Eusebius, Bishop of Milan, to Leo.
(Informing him that the Tome has been
Letter XCVIII.
From the Synod of Chalcedon to Leo.
The great and holy and universal Synod, which by the grace of God and the sanction of our most pious and Christ-loving Emperors has been gathered together in the metropolis of Chalcedon in the province of Bithynia, to the most holy and blessed archbishop of Rome, Leo.
I. They congratulate Leo on taking the foremost part in maintaining the Faith.
“Our mouth was filled with joy and our
tongue with exultation S. εὔνοιαν:
others read εὐβουλίαν
(good advice). The reference is to
II. They detail Dioscorus’ wicked acts.
And the adversary would have been like a wild beast outside the fold, roaring to himself and unable to seize any one, had not the late bishop of Alexandria thrown himself for a prey to him, who, though he had done many terrible things before, eclipsed the former by the latter deeds; for contrary to all the injunctions of the canons, he deposed that blessed shepherd of the saints at Constantinople, Flavian, who displayed such Apostolic faith, and the most pious bishop Eusebius, and acquitted by his terror-won votes Eutyches, who had been condemned for heresy, and restored to him the dignity which your holiness had taken away from him as unworthy of it, and like the strangest of wild beasts, falling upon the vine which he found in the finest condition, he uprooted it and brought in that which had been cast away as unfruitful, and those who acted like true shepherds he cut off, and set over the flocks those who had shown themselves wolves: and besides all this he stretched forth his fury even against him who had been charged with the custody of the vine by the Saviour, we mean of course your holiness, and purposed excommunication against one who had at heart the unifying of the Church. And instead of showing penitence for this, instead of begging mercy with tears, he exulted as if over virtuous actions, rejecting your holiness’ letter and resisting all the dogmas of the Truth.
III. We have deposed Eutyches, treating him as mercifully as we could.
And we ought to have left him in the position
where he had placed himself: but, since we profess the teaching
of the Saviour “who wishes all men to be saved and to come to a
knowledge of the Truth ἐν
ἑαυτῷ
ἄκρατον τοῦ
συνειδότος
ἔχων τὸν
ἔλεγχον. There seems,
however, some grounds, but no actual necessity for the reading
ἔγγραφον = written
(instead of ἄκρατον) adopted by the
Ball. ἡ τὸν
σύλλογον τῷ
νυμφῶνι (lit. bride-chamber)
στεφανοῦσα
καλλίνικος
Εὐφημία; this obscure
passage is to a certain extent elucidated by Letter CI., chap. iii.
(q.v.). The martyr, Euphemia, seems to have been a sort of
patron saint of Chalcedon. ἐπισφραγίσασα;
others ἐπιψηφίσασα,
which seems meaningless here.
IV. They announce their decision that Constantinople should take precedence next to Rome, and ask Leo’s consent to it.
And we further inform you that we have decided on
other things also for the good management and stability of church
matters, being persuaded that your holiness will accept and ratify
them, when you are told. The long prevailing custom, which the
holy Church of God at Constantinople had of
ordaining metropolitans for the provinces of Asia, Pontus and Thrace,
we have now ratified by the votes of the Synod, not so much by way of
conferring a privilege on the See of Constantinople as to provide for
the good government of those cities, because of the frequent disorders
that arise on the death of their bishops, both clergy and laity being
then without a leader and disturbing church order. And this has
not escaped your holiness, particularly in the case of Ephesus, which
has often caused you annoyance The reference (acc.
to Ball.) is to the dispute about the bishopric between Bassian and
Stephen, in which Leo interfered, though the letter is not extant. One of the Latin
versions adds the names and titles of the subscribing bishops
here. For the subject matter of Chap. iv., see Introduction, p.
viii.
Letter XCIX.
From Ravennus and Other Gallic Bishops.
(Announcing that the Tome has been accepted in Gaul also as a definitive statement of the Faith, with the bishops’ subscriptions.)
From the Emperor Marcian.
(Dealing much more briefly with the same subjects as Letter XCVIII. above.)
Letter CI.
From Anatolius, Bishop of Constantinople, to Leo.
(Dealing with much the same subjects as Letter XCVIII. from Anatolius’ own standpoint: Chap. iii. is translated in extenso as illustrating XCVIII., chap. iii.)
III. He describes the circumstances under which the doctrine of the Incarnation had been formulated by the Synod.
But since after passing judgment upon him we had
to come to an agreement with prayers and tears upon a definition of the
right Faith; for that was the chief reason for the Emperor’s
summoning the holy Synod, at which your holiness was present in the
spirit with us, and wrought with us by the God-fearing men who were
sent from you; we, having the protection of the most holy and beautiful
martyr Euphemia, have all given ourselves to this important matter with
all deliberateness. And as the occasion demanded that all the
assembled holy bishops should publish a unanimous decision for
clearness and for an explicit statement of the Faith in our Lord Jesus
Christ the Lord God
who is found and revealed even to those who seek Him not, yes, even to
those who ask not for Him Cf.
Letter CII.
To the Gallic Bishops.
(Thanking them for their letter (viz. XCIX.) to him, and announcing the result of the Synod of Chalcedon.)
Letter CIII.
To the Gallic Bishops.
(Written later: enclosing a copy of the sentence against Eutyches and Dioscorus.)
Letter CIV.
Leo, the Bishop, to Marcian Augustus.
(To Marcian Augustus, about the presumption of Anatolius, by the hand of Lucian the bishop and Basil the deacon.)
I. He congratulates the Emperor on his share in the triumph of the catholic Faith.
By the great bounty of God’s mercy the joys
of the whole catholic Church were multiplied when through your
clemency’s holy and glorious zeal the most pestilential error was
abolished among us; so that our labours the more speedily reached their
desired end, because your God-serving Majesty had so faithfully and
powerfully assisted them. For although the liberty of the Gospel
had to be defended against certain dissentients in the power of the
Holy Ghost, and through the instrumentality of the Apostolic See, yet
God’s grace has shown itself more
manifestly (than we could have hoped) by vouchsafing to the world that
in the victory of the Truth only the authors of the violation of the
Faith should perish Perish
spiritually he means, as the sequel shows, for at least one
great and good man on the catholic side, Flavian perished
corporeally.
II. Considering all the circumstances Anatolius might have been expected to show more modesty.
But now that these things, about which so great a
concourse of priests assembled, have been brought to a good and
desirable conclusion, I am surprised and grieved that the peace of the
universal Church which had been divinely restored is again being
disturbed by a spirit of self-seeking. For although my brother
Anatolius seems necessarily to have consulted his own interest in
forsaking the error of those who ordained him, and with salutary change
of mind accepting the catholic Faith, yet he ought to have taken care
not to mar by any depravity of desire that which he is known to have
obtained through your means Viz., the See of
Constantinople. Dioscorus in
particular.
III. The city of Constantinople, royal though it be, can never be raised to Apostolic rank.
Let the city of Constantinople have, as we desire,
its high rank, and under the protection of God’s right hand, long enjoy your clemency’s
rule. Yet things secular stand on a different basis from things
divine: and there can be no sure building save on that rock which
the Lord has laid for a foundation. He
that covets what is not his due, loses what is his own. Let it be
enough for Anatolius that by the aid of your piety and by my favour and
approval he has obtained the bishopric of so great a city. Let
him not disdain a city which is royal, though he cannot make it an
Apostolic See The chief
Apostolicæ sedes were Rome and Antioch, according to
tradition founded by S. Peter, and Alexandria founded by his disciple
S. Mark, and the See of Constantinople could not exercise jurisdiction
over them.
IV. He asks the Emperor to express his disapproval of Anatolius’ self-seeking spirit.
And therefore knowing that your glorious clemency is
anxious for the peace of the Church and extends its protection and
approval to those measures which conduce to pacific unity, I pray and
beseech you with earnest entreaty to refuse all sanction and protection
to these unscrupulous attempts against Christian unity and peace, and
put a salutary check upon my brother Anatolius’ desires, which
will only injure himself, if he persists: that he may not desire
things which are opposed to your glory and the needs of the times, and
wish to be greater than his predecessors, and that it may be free for
him to be as pre-eminent as he can in virtues, in which he will be
partaker only if he prefer to be adorned with love rather than puffed
up with ambition. The conception of this unwarrantable wish he
ought indeed never to have received within the secret of his heart, but
when my brothers and fellow-bishops who were there to represent me
withstood him, he might at least have desisted from his unlawful
V. And to try to bring him to a right mind.
And hence, because it becomes your glorious faith
that, as heresy was overthrown, God acting
through you, so now all self-seeking should be defeated, do that which
beseems both your Christian and your kingly goodness, so that the said
bishop may obey the Fathers, further the cause of peace, and not think
he had any right to ordain a bishop One Maximus by
name.
Letter CV.
(To Pulcheria Augusta about the self-seeking of Anatolius.)
Leo the bishop to Pulcheria Augusta.
I. He congratulates the Empress on the triumph of the Faith, but regrets the introduction of a new controversy into the Church.
We rejoice ineffably with your Grace that the
catholic Faith has been defended against heretics and peace restored to
the whole Church through your clemency’s holy and God-pleasing
zeal: giving thanks to the Merciful and Almighty God that He has suffered none save those who loved
darkness rather than light to be defrauded of the gospel-truth:
so that by the removal of the mists of error the purest light might
arise in the hearts of all, and that darkness-loving foe might not
triumph over certain weak souls, whom not only those who stood unhurt
but also those whom he had made to totter have overcome, and that by
the abolition of error the true Faith might reign throughout the world,
and “every tongue might confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father
II. The Nicene canons are unalterable and binding universally.
For my brother and fellow-bishop Anatolius not
sufficiently considering your Grace’s kindness and the favour of
my assent, whereby he gained the priesthood of the church of
Constantinople, instead of rejoicing at what he has gained, has been
inflamed with undue desires beyond the measure of his rank, believing
that his intemperate self-seeking could be advanced by the assertion
that certain persons had signified their assent thereto by an extorted
signature: notwithstanding that my brethren and fellow-bishops,
who represented me, faithfully and laudably expressed their dissent
from these attempts which are doomed to speedy failure. For no
one may venture upon anything in opposition to the enactments of the
Fathers’ canons which many long years ago in the city of
Nicæa were founded upon the decrees of the Spirit, so that any one
who wishes to pass any different decree injures himself rather than
impairs them. And if all pontiffs will but keep them inviolate as
they should, there will be perfect peace and complete harmony through
all the churches: there will be no disagreements about rank, no
disputes about ordinations, no controversies about privileges, no
strifes about taking that which is another’s; but by the fair law
of love a reasonable order will be kept both in conduct and in office,
and he will be truly great who is found free from all self-seeking, as
the Lord says, “Whosoever will become
greater among you, let him be your minister, and whosoever will be
first among you shall be your slave; even as the Son of Man came not to
be ministered unto but to minister S.
III. Only by imitating his predecessor will he regain Leo’s confidence: the assent of the bishops is declared null and void.
Let him realize what a man he has succeeded, and expelling all the spirit of pride let him imitate Flavian’s faith, Flavian’s modesty, Flavian’s humility, which has raised him right to a confessor’s glory. If he will shine with his virtues, he will merit all praise, and in all quarters he will win an abundance of love not by seeking human advancement but by deserving Divine favour. And by this careful course I promise he will bind my heart also to him, and the love of the Apostolic See, which we have ever bestowed on the church of Constantinople, shall never be violated by any change. Because if sometimes rulers fall into errors through want of moderation, yet the churches of Christ do not lose their purity. But the bishops’ assents, which are opposed to the regulations of the holy canons composed at Nicæa in conjunction with your faithful Grace, we do not recognize, and by the blessed Apostle Peter’s authority we absolutely dis-annul in comprehensive terms, in all ecclesiastical cases obeying those laws which the Holy Ghost set forth by the 318 bishops for the pacific observance of all priests in such sort that even if a much greater number were to pass a different decree to theirs, whatever was opposed to their constitution would have to be held in no respect.
IV. He requests the Empress to give his letter her favourable consideration.
And so I request your Grace to receive in a worthy spirit this lengthy letter, in which I had to explain my views, at the hands of my brother and fellow-bishop Lucianus, who, as far as in him lies, has faithfully executed the anxious duties of his undertaking as my delegate, and of my son Basil, the deacon. And because it is your habit to labour for the peace and unity of the Church, for his soul’s health keep my brother Anatolius the bishop, to whom I have extended my love by your advice, within those limits which shall be profitable to him, that as your clemency’s glory is magnified already for the restoration of the Faith, so it may be published abroad for the restraint of self-seeking. Dated the 22nd of May, in the consulship of the illustrious Herculanus (452).
Letter CVI.
To Anatolius, Bishop of Constantinople, in rebuke of his self-seeking.
Leo, the bishop, to Anatolius, the bishop.
I. He commends Anatolius for his orthodoxy, but condemns him for his presumption.
Now that the light of Gospel Truth has been
manifested, as we wished, through God’s
grace, and the night of most pestilential error has been dispelled from
the universal Church, we are unspeakably glad in the Lord, because the difficult charge entrusted to us has
been brought to the desired conclusion, even as the text of your letter
announces, so that, according to the Apostle’s teaching,
“we all speak the same thing, and that there be no schisms among
us: but that we be perfect in the same mind and in the same
knowledge Cf. Letter CIV., chap.
v.
II. Nothing can cancel or modify the Nicene canons.
And so after the not irreproachable beginning of
your ordination, after the consecration of the bishop of Antioch, which
you claimed for yourself contrary to the regulations of the canons, I
grieve, beloved, that you have fallen into this too, that you should
try to break down the most sacred constitutions of the Nicene
canons The wording of Canon 6
is as follows: mos antiquus perduret, in Ægypto vel Libya
et Pentapoli, ut Alexandrinus episcopus horum omnium habeat potestatem,
quoniam quidem et episcopo Romano parilis mos est. Similiter
autem et apud Antiochiam ceterasque provincias (ἐπαρχίας) honor suus
unicuique servetur ecclesiæ: where, it will be noticed,
no mention is made of Constantinople at all, so that its position is
not explicitly defined either way.
III. The Synod of Chalcedon, which met for one purpose, ought never to have been used for another.
Accordingly these things which are found to be contrary to those most holy canons are exceedingly unprincipled and misguided. This haughty arrogance tends to the disturbance of the whole Church, which has purposed so to misuse a synodal council, as by wicked arguments to over-persuade, or by intimidation to compel, the brethren to agree with it, when they had been summoned simply on a matter of Faith, and had come to a decision on the subject which was to engage their care. For it was on this ground that our brothers sent by the Apostolic see, who presided in our stead at the synod with commendable firmness, withstood their illegal attempts, openly protesting against the introduction of any reprehensible innovation contrary to the enactments of the Council of Nicæa. And there can be no doubt about their opposition, seeing that you yourself in your epistle complain of their wish to contravene your attempts. And therein indeed you greatly commend them to me by thus writing, whereas you accuse yourself in refusing to obey them concerning your unlawful designs, vainly seeking what cannot be granted, and craving what is bad for your soul’s health, and can never win our consent. For may I never be guilty of assisting so wrong a desire, which ought rather to be subverted by my aid, and that of all who think not high things, but agree with the lowly.
IV. The Nicene Canons are for universal application and not to be wrested to private interpretations.
These holy and venerable fathers who in the city of
Nicæa, after condemning the blasphemous Arius with his impiety,
laid down a code of canons for the Church to last till the end of the
world, survive not only with us but with the whole of mankind in their
constitutions; and, if anywhere men venture upon what is contrary to
their decrees, it is ipso facto null and void; so that what is
universally laid down for our perpetual advantage can never be modified
by any change, nor can the things which were destined for the common
good be perverted to private interests; and thus so long as the limits
remain, which the Fathers fixed, no one may invade another’s
right but each must exercise himself within the proper and lawful
bounds, to the extent of his power, in the breadth of love; of which
the bishop of Constantinople may reap the fruits
V. The sanction alleged to have been accorded 60 years ago to the supremacy of Constantinople over Alexandria and Antioch is worthless.
“Be not highminded,” brother,
“but fear Cf. Letter CV., chap.
ii. (end).
VI. Christian love demands self-denial not self-seeking.
In thus writing to you, brother, I exhort and
admonish you in the Lord, laying aside all
ambitious desires to cherish rather a spirit of love and to adorn
yourself to your profit with the virtues of love, according to the
Apostle’s teaching. For love “is patient and kind,
and envies not, acts not iniquitously, is not puffed up, is not
ambitious, seeks not its own
Letter CVII.
To Julian, Bishop of Cos.
(Expostulating with him for putting personal considerations before the good of the Church in the matter of the precedence of the See of Constantinople.)
Letter CVIII.
To Theodore, Bishop of Forum Julii.
Leo, the bishop, to Theodore, bishop of Forum Julii.
I. Theodorus should not have approached him except through his metropolitan.
Your first proceeding, when anxious, should have been to have consulted your metropolitan on the point which seemed to need inquiry, and if he too was unable to help you, beloved, you should both have asked to be instructed (by us); for in matters, which concern all the Lord’s priests as a whole, no inquiry ought to be made without the primates. But in order that the consulter’s doubts may in any case be set at rest, I will not keep back the Church’s rules about the state of penitents.
The manifold mercy of God
so assists men when they fall, that not only by the grace of baptism
but also by the remedy of penitence is the hope of eternal life
revived, in order that they who have violated the gifts of the second
birth, condemning themselves by their own judgment, may attain to
remission of their crimes, the provisions of the Divine Goodness having
so ordained that God’s indulgence cannot
be obtained without the supplications of priests. For the
Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ
Jesus, has transmitted this power to those that are set over the Church
that they should both grant a course of penitence Actionem
(others not so well sanctionem) pœitentioe. S.
III. Penitence is sure only in this life.
But if any one of those for whom we entreat God be hindered by some obstacle and lose the benefit of immediate absolution, and before he attain to the remedies appointed, end his days in the course of nature, he will not be able when stripped of the flesh to gain that which when yet in the body he did not receive. And there will be no need for us to weigh the merits and acts of those who have thus died, seeing that the Lord our God, whose judgments cannot be found out, has reserved for His own decision that which our priestly ministry could not complete: for He wishes His power to be so feared that this fear may benefit all, and every one may dread that which happens to the lukewarm or careless. For it is most expedient and essential that the guilt of sins should be loosed by priestly supplication before the last day of life.
IV. And yet penitence and reconciliation must not be refused to men in extremis.
But to those who in time of need and in urgent
danger implore the aid first of penitence, then of reconciliation, must
neither means of amendment nor reconciliation be forbidden:
because we cannot place limits to God’s
mercy nor fix times for Him with whom true conversion suffers no delay
of forgiveness, as says God’s Spirit by
the prophet, “when thou hast turned and lamented, then shalt thou
be saved
V. Hazardous as deathbed repentance is, the grace of absolution must not be refused even when it can be asked for only by signs.
Hence it behoves each individual Christian to listen to the judgment of his own conscience, lest he put off the turning to God from day to day and fix the time of his amendment at the end of his life; for it is most perilous for human frailty and ignorance to confine itself to such conditions as to be reduced to the uncertainty of a few hours, and instead of winning indulgence by fuller amendment, to choose the narrow limits of that time when space is scarcely found even for the penitent’s confession or the priest’s absolution. But, as I have said, even such men’s needs must be so assisted that the free action of penitence and the grace of communion be not denied them, if they demand it even when their voice is gone, by the signs of a still clear intellect. And if they be so overcome by the stress of their malady that they cannot signify in the priest’s presence what just before they were asking for, the testimony of believers standing by must prevail for them, that they may obtain the benefit of penitence and reconciliation simultaneously, so long as the regulations of the Fathers’ canons be observed in reference to those persons who have sinned against God by forsaking the Faith.
VI. He is to bring this letter to the notice of the metropolitan.
These answers, brother, which I have given to your
questions in order that nothing different be done under the excuse of
ignorance, you shall bring to the notice of your
Letter CIX.
To Julian, Bishop of Cos.
Leo, the pope, to Julian, the bishop.
I. He laments over the recent rioting in Palestine.
The information which you give, brother, about the
riotous doings of the false monks These were the monks
of Palestine who immediately on Theodosius’ return from the Synod
stirred up great riots first in Jerusalem and then throughout
Palestine. Letters of the
Emperor Marcion (quoted by Ball.) speak (1) of a letter written by
Theodosius quas solus poterat fingere diabolus; and (2) of
cruelties, tortures, and insults committed particularly in mulieres
honestas et nobiles, whereby the rioters had not hesitated to force
many to acquiesce in their wicked teaching.
II. The ringleaders must be removed to a distance.
I am not unaware what love and favour is due to
our sons, those holy and true monks, who forsake not the moderation of
their profession, and carry into practice what they promised by their
vows. But these insolent disturbers, who boast of their insults
and injuries to priests They had slain
Severian, Bishop of Scythopolis, and would also have slain Juvenal,
Bishop of Jerusalem, if he had not taken refuge in flight (Ball.).
III. He sends a letter of S. Athanasius to show that the present heresy is only a revival of former exploded heresies.
But lest the instruction necessary for the
confirmation of faithful spirits or the refutation of heretics should
be wanting or not expressed, I have sent the letter of bishop
Athanasius of holy memory addressed to bishop Epictetus A portion of this
letter is among the quotations added at the end of Letter CLXV.
See also Vol. IV. p. 570. What this triple
error was will be found in Lett. LIX., chap. v. (q.v.): cf. also
Lett. CXXIV. and CLXVII.
IV. He expresses a hope that Juvenal’s timely acknowledgment of error will be imitated by the rest.
But bishop Juvenal, whose injuries are to be
lamented, joined himself too rashly to those blasphemous heretics, and
by embracing Eutyches and Dioscorus, drove many ignorant folk headlong
by his example, albeit he afterwards corrected himself by wiser
counsels. These men, however, who drank in more greedily the
wicked poison, have become the enemies of him, whose disciples they had
been before, so that the very food he had supplied them was turned to
his own ruin: and yet it is to be hoped they will imitate him in
amending his ways, if only the holy associations of the neighbourhood
in which they dwell will help them to recover their senses. But
the character of him Sc. Theodosius
Letter CX.
From Marcian Augustus.
(Expressing surprise that Leo has not by now confirmed the acts of the Synod, and asking for a speedy confirmation.)
Letter CXI.
To Marcian Augustus.
(About Anatolius’ mistake in deposing Actions from the office of archdeacon and putting in Andrew instead.)
Letter CXII.
To Pulcheria Augusta.
(On the same subject more briefly.)
Letter CXIII.
To Julian, Bishop of Cos.
Leo, bishop of Rome, to Julian, bishop of Cos.
I. After thanks for Julian’s sympathy he complains of the deposition of Aetius from the archdeaconry.
I acknowledge in your letter, beloved, the
feelings of brotherly love, in that you sympathize with us in true
grief at the many grievous evils we have borne. But we pray that
these things which the Lord has either allowed
or wished us to suffer, may avail to the correction of those who live
through them
Servatorum. I am not sure whether this is the right sense;
others read multorum. In Lett. CXI., chap.
ii., he is said to have been cœmeterio deputatis, and,
according to Quesnel, when the cemeteries (or catacombs) had no longer
to be used as refuges for the persecuted Christians, the custom had
grown up of putting priests in charge to perpetuate the memory of the
martyrs therein buried; in process of time, when love grew cold, this
was looked upon as a sort of exile, and an onerous duty in
consequence.
II. He asks Julian to act for him as Anatolius is deficient in vigour.
See then, beloved brother, that you bestow
III. He asks for further information about the rioting in Palestine and in Egypt.
But with regard to the monks of Palestine, who are
said this long time to be in a state of mutiny, I know not by what
spirit they are at present moved. Nor has any one yet explained
to me what reasons they seem to bring forward for their
discontent: whether for instance, they wish to serve the
Eutychian heresy by such madness, or whether they are irreconcilably
vexed that their bishop could have been misled into that blasphemy,
whereby, in spite of the very associations of the holy spots, from
which issued instruction for the whole world, he has alienated himself
from the Truth of the Lord’s
Incarnation, and in their opinion that cannot be venial in him which in
others had to be wiped out by absolution. And therefore I desire
to be more fully informed about these things that proper means may be
taken for their correction; because it is one thing to arm oneself
wickedly against the Faith, and another thing to be immoderately
disturbed on behalf of it. You must know, too, that the documents
which Aetius the presbyter told me before had been dispatched, and the
epitome of the Faith which you say you have sent, have not yet
arrived. Hence, if an opportunity offers itself of a more
expeditious messenger, I shall be glad for any information that may
seem expedient to be sent me as soon as possible. I am anxious to
know about the monks of Egypt There had been
riots among the monks of Egypt about the appointment of Proterius as
bishop, instead of Dioscorus, deposed.
IV. He asks for a Latin translation of the acts of Chalcedon.
I wish to know whether my letter This is
Letter XXXV. (q.v.). It is, of course,
well known that Leo knew no Greek whatever.
To the Bishops Assembled in Synod at Chalcedon.
(In answer to their Letter (XCVIII.), approving of their acts in the general so long as nothing is contrary to the canons of Nicæa.)
Letter CXV.
To Marcian Augustus.
(Congratulating him upon the restoration of peace to the Church, and the suppression of the riotous monks; giving his consent also, as a liege subject of the Emperor’s, to the acts of Chalcedon, and asking him to make this known to the Synod.)
Letter CXVI.
To Pulcheria Augusta.
(Commending her pious zeal and informing her of his assent to the acts of Chalcedon.)
Letter CXVII.
To Julian, Bishop of Cos.
Leo to Julian the bishop.
I. He wishes his assent to the acts of Chalcedon to be widely known.
How watchfully and how devotedly you guard the catholic Faith, brother, the tenor of your letter shows, and my anxiety is greatly relieved by the information it contains; supplemented as it is by the most religious piety of our religious Emperor, which is clearly shown to be prepared by the Lord for the confirmation of the whole Church; so that, whilst Christian princes act for the Faith with holy zeal, the priests of the Lord may confidently pray for their realm.
What therefore our most clement Emperor deemed needful I have willingly complied with, by sending letters to all the brethren who were present at the Synod of Chalcedon, in which to show that I approved of what was resolved upon by our holy brethren about the Rule of Faith; on their account to wit, who in order to cloke their own treachery, pretend to consider invalid or doubtful such conciliar ordinances as are not ratified by my assent: albeit, after the return of the brethren whom I had sent in my stead, I dispatched a letter to the bishop of Constantinople; so that, if he had been minded to publish it, abundant proof might have been furnished thereby how gladly I approved of what the synod had passed concerning the Faith. But, because it contained such an answer as would have run counter to his self-seeking, he preferred my acceptance of the brethren’s resolutions to remain unknown, lest at the same time my reply should become known on the absolute authority of the Nicene canons. Wherefore take heed, beloved, that you warn our most gracious prince by frequent reminders that he add his words to ours and order the letter of the Apostolic See to be sent round to the priests of each single province, that hereafter no enemy of the Truth may venture to excuse himself under cover of my silence.
II. He expresses his thanks for the zeal shown by the Emperor and the Empress.
And as to the edict of the most Christian Emperor, in which he has shown what the ignorant folly of certain monks deserved and as to the reply of the most gracious Augusta, in which she rebuked the heads of the monasteries, I wish my great rejoicing to be known, being assured that this fervour of faith is bestowed upon them by Divine inspiration, in order that all men may acknowledge their superiority to rest not only on their royal state but also on their priestly holiness: whom both now and formerly I have asked to treat you with full confidence, being assured of their good will, and that they will not refuse to give ear to necessary suggestions.
III. He wishes to know the effect of his letter to the Empress Eudocia.
And, because the most clement Emperor has been
pleased to charge me secretly by our son Paulus with the task of
admonishing our daughter the most clement Augusta Eudocia This is Eudocia, the
widow of Theodosius II., and the Prince, her son, mentioned below, is
Valentinianus III., who had married her daughter Eudoxia. The
letter of Leo here mentioned is probably not Letter CXXIII.
below. For a graphic sketch of the elder lady see Gore’s
Life of Leo, pp. 131, 2.
IV. Aetius must be content at present with the Emperor’s favour.
With our son Aetius Cf. Letter CXIII.
above.
V. Anatolius shows no contrition in his subsequent acts.
This too we would have you know, that bishop
Anatolius after our prohibition so persisted in his rash presumption as
to call upon the bishops of Illyricum to subscribe their names:
this news was brought us by the bishop who was sent by the bishop of
Thessalonica This is Euxitheus,
the successor of Anastasius: Letter CL. is addressed to him.
Letter CXVIII.
To the Same Julian, Bishop of Cos.
(In which, after speaking of his own efforts for the Faith, he objects to monks being permitted to preach, especially if heretically inclined, and asks Julian to stir up the Emperor’s zeal for the Faith.)
Letter CXIX.
To Maximus, Bishop of Antioch, by the hand of Marian the Presbyter, and Olympius the Deacon.
Leo to Maximus of Antioch.
I. The Faith is the mean between the two extremes of Eutyches and Nestorius.
How much, beloved, you have at heart the most
sacred unity of our common Faith and the tranquil harmony of the
Church’s peace, the substance of your letter shows, which was
brought me by our sons, Marian the presbyter and Olympius the deacon,
and which was the more welcome to us because thereby we can join as it
were in conversation, and thus the grace of God becomes more and more known and greater joy is felt
through the whole world over the revelation of catholic Truth.
And yet we are sore grieved at some who still (so your messengers
indicate) love their darkness; and though the brightness of day has
arisen everywhere, even still delight in the obscurity of their
blindness, and abandoning the Faith, remain Christians in only the
empty name, without knowledge to discern one error from another, and to
distinguish the blasphemy of Nestorius from the impiety of
Eutyches. For no delusion of theirs can appear excusable, because
they contradict themselves in their perverseness. For, though
Eutyches’ disciples abhor Nestorius, and the followers of
Nestorius anathematize Eutyches, yet in the judgment of catholics both
sides are condemned and both heresies alike are cut away from the body
of the Church: because neither falsehood can be in unison with
us. Nor does it matter in which direction of blasphemy they
disagree with the truth of the Lord’s
Incarnation, since their erroneous opinions hold neither with the
authority of the Gospel nor with the significance of the
mystery Ratio
sacramenti.
II. Maximus is to keep the churches of the East free from these two opposite heresies.
And therefore, beloved brother, you must with all
your heart consider over which church the Lord
has set you to preside, and remember that system of doctrine of which
the chief of all the Apostles, the blessed Peter, laid the foundation,
not only by his uniform preaching throughout the world, but especially
by his teaching in the cities of Antioch and Rome: so that you
may understand that he demands of him who is set over the home of his
own renown those institutions which he handed down, as he received them
from the Truth Itself, which he confessed. And in the churches of
the East, and especially in those which the canons of the most holy
Fathers at Nicæa These were
apparently twenty in number, but include no very important towns except
Seleucia the seaport of Antioch.
III. Antioch as the third See in Christendom is to retain her privileges.
And so it behoves you to use the utmost vigilance,
lest these depraved heretics dare to assert themselves; for you must
resist them with all the authority of priests, and frequently inform us
by your reports what is being done for the progress of the
churches. For it is right that you should share this
responsibility with the Apostolic See, and realize that the privileges
of the third See in Christendom Privilegia
tertiæ sedis. Leo here still assigns to Antioch the
third place in order of precedence, Rome and Alexandria being first and
second respectively; but since 381, as we have seen, e.g. in Lett.
XCVIII., chap. iv., it had been lowered to the 4th place by the
insertion of Constantinople between Rome and Alexandria: see
Schaff’s Hist., Vol. II. § 56, pp. 277 and following, and
Gore’s Leo, pp. 119 and foll.
IV. Anatolius’ attempts to subvert the decisions of Nicæa are futile.
But at the present time let it be enough to make a
general proclamation on all points, that if in any synod any one makes
any attempt upon or seems to take occasion of wresting an advantage
against the provisions of the Nicene canons, he can inflict no
discredit upon their inviolable decrees: and it will be easier
for the compacts of any conspiracy to be broken through than for the
regulations of the aforesaid canons to be in any particular
invalidated. For intrigue loses no opportunity of stealing an
advantage, and whenever the course of things brings about a general
assembly of priests, it is difficult for the greediness of the
unscrupulous not to try to gain some unfair point: just as in the
Synod of Ephesus which overthrew the blasphemous Nestorius with his
dogma, bishop Juvenal believed that he was capable of holding the
presidency of the province of Palestine, and ventured to rally the
insubordinate by a lying letter It is a
curious fact in the history of Church government that the bishopric of
Jerusalem for the first centuries never had the first place in
Palestine: this was assigned to the metropolitan of Cæsarea,
although on great occasions the Bishop of Jerusalem sat next to the
patriarch of Antioch: cf. Schaff’s Hist., Vol. II. 56, p.
283, and the viith. Nicene canon: mos
antiquus obtineat ut Aeliæ, id est Ierosolymæ, episcopus
honoretur salva metropolis propria dignitate. The Ballerinii
point out that the 1st Council of Ephesus was held in 431, at which
Cyril presided for Celestinus I. of Rome and that Leo was not bishop
till 441; this letter was probably addressed to him when archdeacon of
Rome, in which case the authority which he had already gained is
remarkably illustrated.
V. If Leo’s legates in any way exceeded their instructions, they did so ineffectually.
Of course, if anything is alleged to have been done by
those brethren whom I sent in my stead to the holy Synod, beyond that
which was germane to the Faith, it shall be of no weight at all:
because they were sent by the Apostolic See only for the purpose of
VI. No one but priests are allowed to preach.
This too it behoves you, beloved, to guard
against, that no one except those who are the Lord’s priests dare to claim the right of teaching
or preaching, be he monk or layman See Lett. CXX.,
chap. vi., note 7.
Letter CXX.
To Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus, on Perseverance in the Faith.
Leo, the bishop, to his beloved brother Theodoret, the bishop.
I. He congratulates Theodoret on their joint victory, and expresses his approval of an honest inquiry which leads to good results.
On the return of our brothers and fellow-priests,
whom the See of the blessed Peter sent to the holy council, we
ascertained, beloved, the victory you and we together had won by
assistance from on high over the blasphemy of Nestorius, as well as
over the madness of Eutyches. Wherefore we make our boast in the
Lord, singing with the prophet:
“our help is in the name of the Lord,
who hath made heaven and earth These were, of course,
the bishops of Illyricum and Palestine, who raised objections at
various points in the reading of Leo’s Tome at Chalcedon.
They were allowed five days to reconsider the matter, and ultimately
yielded their consent. See Introduction, p. x., and
Bright’s notes to the Tome, who gives their objections and
answers in detail, esp. nn. 148, 156, 160, and 173.
II. Christ’s victory has won back many to the Faith.
Exult therefore, beloved brother, yes, exult
triumphantly in the only-begotten Son of God. Through us He has conquered for Himself the
reality of Whose flesh was denied. Through us and for us He has
conquered, in whose cause we have conquered. This happy day ranks
next to the Lord’s Advent for the
world. The robber is laid low, and there is restored to our age
the mystery of the Divine Incarnation which the enemy of mankind was
obscuring with his chicaneries, because the facts would not let him
actually destroy it. Nay, the immortal mystery had
S. He is thinking
especially of the martyred Flavian. Dioscorus of
Alexandria is meant. S.
III. Dioscorus, who in his madness has attacked even the bishop of Rome, has shown himself the instrument of Satan.
It is not to be wondered, then, that they who have
accepted a delusion as to our nature in the true God agree with their father on these points also,
maintaining that what was seen, heard, and in fact, by the witness of
the gospel, touched and handled in the only Son of God, belonged not to that to which it was proved to
belong Viz., to human
nature. A reference to Letter
XCVIII. (from the Synod of Chalcedon to Leo), chap. ii. shows that
Dioscorus had threatened Leo with excommunication; excommunicationem
meditatus est contra te qui corpus ecclesiæ unire
festinas. This was of course
Flavian. Quesnel quotes Liberatus the deacon (chap. x. of the
Breviary) as asserting that no sooner was Dioscorus made bishop of
Alexandria than oppressit Cyrilli heredes et per calumnias multas ab
eis abstulit pecunias. His accusers at Chalcedon charge him
with being an Origenist, an Arian, a murderer, an incendiary, and an
evil liver generally. S. S.
IV. Those who undertake to speak authoritatively on doctrine, must preserve the balance between the extremes.
Accordingly while he strove to cut short Flavian
of blessed memory’s life in the present world, he has deprived
himself of the light of true life. While he tried to drive you
out of your churches, he has cut off himself from fellowship with
Christians. While he drags and drives many into agreement with
error, he has stabbed his own soul with many a wound, a solitary
convicted offender beyond all, and through all and for all, for he was
the cause of all men’s being accused. But, although,
brother, you who are nurtured on solid food, have little need of such
reminders, yet that we may fulfil what belongs to our position
according to that utterance of the Apostle who says, “Besides
these things that are without, that which presseth on me daily, anxiety
for all the churches. Who is weakened and I am not weak?
Who is made to stumble and I burn not Inter utrumque hostem
novellæ perfidiæ, sc. Nestorianism and Eutychianism.
V. Theodoret’s orthodoxy has been happily and thoroughly vindicated.
Wherefore this, too, it is our duty to provide
against the Church’s enemies, that, as far as in us lies, we
leave them no occasion for slandering us, nor yet, in acting against
the Nestorians or Eutychians, ever seem to have retreated before the
other side, but that we shun and condemn both the enemies of Christ in
equal measure, so that whenever the interests of the hearers in any way
require it, we may with all promptitude and clearness strike down them
and their doctrines with the anathema that they deserve, lest if we
seem to do this doubtfully or tardily, we be thought to act against our
will The Ballerinii remind
us that all these allusions to keeping the balance of Truth in this and
the last chapter, and here to acting promptissme et
evidentissime were intended for Theodoret’s especial benefit,
who from his former defence of Nestorius and attacks on Cyril had been
suspected of the Nestorian taint, but had expressly cleared himself at
the Council of Chalcedon. This explains the res ipsæ
and the experimenta of the next sentence, and the solemn
adjuration of the sentence next but one. See the Acts of
Chalcedon I, ingrediatur et reverendissimus episcopus Theodoretus ut
sit particeps synodi, quia et restituit ei episcopatum sanctissimus
archiepiscopus Leo, and 8, where the judges ask for a verdict,
“sicut et sanctissimus Leo archiepiscopus
iudicavit,” to which the whole council replied Post Deum
Leo iudicavit.
VI. He asks Theodoret for his continued cooperation, and refers him to a letter which he has written to the bishop of Antioch.
It remains that we exhort you to continue your
co-operation with the Apostolic See, because we have learnt that some
remnants of the Eutychian and Nestorian error still linger amongst
you. For the victory which Christ our Lord has vouchsafed to His Church, although it increases
our confidence, does not yet entirely destroy our anxiety, nor is it
granted us to sleep but to work on more calmly. Hence it is we
wish to be assisted in this too by your watchful care, that you
On those matters which were mooted in the
often-quoted council, in unlawful opposition to the venerable canons of
Nicæa, we have written to our brother and fellow-bishop, the
occupant of the See of Antioch This is Letter
CXIX. to Maximus, bishop of Antioch (q.v.). It must be remembered
that monachus esse in those days meant complete withdrawal from
all active life in the world, the preaching orders being a much later
institution. The Ballerinii suggest that it may have been a
certain abbot Barsumas, who with his followers is said (Act. Chalc. 4)
totam Syriam commovisse. See also Lett. CXIX., chap.
vi.
Letters CXXI. and CXXII.
The former to Marcian Augustus, and the other to Julian the Bishop.
Asking him for further inquiries and information about the proper date for Easter in 455; cf. Letter LXXXVIII. chap. 4, above.
Letter CXXIII.
To Eudocia Augusta See Letter CXVII.,
chap. iii., n. 8. See Letter CIX.
above.
Leo, the bishop, to Eudocia Augusta.
I. A request that she should use her influence with the monks of Palestine in reducing them to order.
I do not doubt that your piety is aware how great
is my devotion to the catholic Faith, and with what care I am bound,
God helping me, to guard against the Gospel of
truth being withstood at any time by ignorant or disloyal men.
And, therefore, after expressing to you my dutiful greetings which your
clemency is ever bound to receive at my hands, I entreat the
Lord to gladden me with the news of your
safety, and to bring aid evermore and more by your means to the
maintenance of that article of the Faith over which the minds of
certain monks within the province of Palestine have been much
disturbed; so that to the best of your pious zeal all confidence in
such heretical perversity may be destroyed. For what but sheer
destruction was to be feared by men who were not moved either by the
principles of God’s mysteries Ratio
sacramentorum, it cannot be too often repeated that to Leo and
other early Fathers, all nature, and all its phenomena, and all
God’s dealings with mankind are sacramenta, and capable of
a sacramental (i.e. higher, inner) interpretation: the particular
sacramentum he is thinking of here is the incarnation, which he
speaks of just below, as often elsewhere, as the sacramentum salutis
humanæ (the sacrament or mystery whereby man is saved). Viz., the places in
Palestine where these monks themselves lived, which trustworthy history
or tradition connects with the various incidents in our Lord’s
life. Eudocia had just made a
pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
II. They are to be told that the catholic Faith rejects both the Eutychian and the Nestorian extremes. He wishes to be informed how far she succeeds.
If then the aforesaid revere and love the name of
“catholic,” and wish to be numbered among the members of
the Lord’s body, let them reject the
crooked errors which in their rashness they have committed, and let
them show penitence Agant
pœnitentiam: this is the regular and very expressive
translation in the Latin Versions and among the Fathers of the Greek
μετανοεῖν. They had seized
Jerusalem, and deposed Juvenal, the Bishop, setting up a partisan of
their own in his stead. Leo not unfrequently
joins these two together as equally responsible (e.g. Lett. CIX.
3).
If your exhortations have any success in convincing these persons, which will win for you eternal glory, I beseech your clemency to inform me of it by letter; that I may have the joy of knowing that you have reaped the fruit of your good work, and that they through the Lord’s mercy have not perished. Dated the 15th of June, in the consulship of the illustrious Opilio (453).
Letter CXXIV.
To the Monks of Palestine.
Leo, the bishop, to the whole body of monks settled throughout Palestine.
I. They have possibly been misled by a wrong translation of his letter on the Incarnation to Flavian.
The anxious care, which I owe to the whole Church
and to all its sons, has ascertained from many sources that some
offence has been given to your minds, beloved, through my
interpreters It will be remembered
that Leo himself knew not a word of the language, which will account
for his uncertainty, consequent helplessness, and uneasiness in this
and other cases where a knowledge of the language would have served him
in excellent stead. I.e. so much good at
all events has come from your objection that we know you are strongly
opposed to Eutyches, at present my own special abhorrence.
II. Eutyches, who confounds the persons,
is as much to be rejected as Nestorius, who separates them The whole of chap. ii.
will be found repeated in
Nestorius, therefore, must be anathematized for
believing the Blessed Virgin Mary to be mother of His manhood only,
whereby he made the person of His flesh one thing, and that of His
Godhead another, and did not recognize the one Christ in the Word of
God and in the flesh, but spoke of the Son of
God as separate and distinct from the son of
man: although, without losing that unchangeable essence which
belongs to Him together with the Father and the Holy Spirit from all
eternity and without respect of time, the “Word became
flesh” within the Virgin’s womb in such wise that by that
one conception and one parturition she was at the same time, in virtue
of the union of the two substances, both handmaid and mother of the
Lord. This Elizabeth also knew, as Luke
the evangelist declares, when she said: “Whence is this to
me that the mother of my Lord should come to
me Cf. Eutyches had expressly
tried to guard himself against this imputation: It must be clearly
understood that this ugly word is here and elsewhere employed to
translate passibilis (παθητός) for no
reason, except the necessity of the case: pati and
πάσχειν are both of
far wider and broader signification than “suffer” or its
synonyms: they are simply the passive of facere and
ποιεῖν (πράσσειν),
and there is no proper equivalent in ordinary English parlance.
This tendency of terms to become more and more narrow and of particular
application is constantly meeting and baffling one in translating the
Latin and Greek languages. Leo elsewhere also
makes this hardly justifiable inference that Eutychianism is a new form
of Docetism as this view was called; chap. vi. below, and Serm. lxv. c.
4 “isti phantasmatici Christiani,” also xxviii. 4,
and lxiv. 1, 2. That the Manichæans naturally held Docetic
views on the Incarnation is obvious when we remember that their
fundamental misconception was that matter is identical with evil. Marcion was the
founder of one of the most formidable Gnostic sects towards the close
of the second century: Tertullian wrote a famous treatise (still
extant) against him. Like other Gnostics, his views involved him
in Docetism.
III. The acknowledgment of our nature in Christ is necessary to orthodoxy.
As these iniquitous lies were once rejected by the
catholic Faith, and such men’s blasphemies condemned by the
unanimous votes of the blessed Fathers throughout the world, whoever
these are that are so blinded and strange to the light of truth as to
deny the presence of human, that is our, nature in the Word of
God from the time of the Incarnation, they
must show on what ground they claim the name of Christian, and in what
way they harmonize with the true Gospel, if the child-bearing of the
blessed Virgin produced either the flesh without the Godhead or the
Godhead without the flesh. For as it cannot be denied that
“the Word became flesh and dwelt in us S.
Prævaricatio: this is a legal term which is often
used of sin (esp. in connexion with Adam’s transgression).
Its original technical meaning is the action of an advocate who plays
into the enemy’s hand. In theology the devil (διάβολος) is
man’s adversary, and man himself is befooled into collusion with
him by breaking God’s Law. Potens ad
privilegium: privilegium is another legal term signifying
technically a bill framed to meet an individual case generally in a
detrimental way, such bills being against the spirit of the Roman
law: here Leo uses it in a sense more nearly approaching our
English idea of “privilege.” Sub peccati
præiudicio: yet a third legal term:
præiudicium in Roman law was a semi-formal and anticipatory
verdict by the judge before the case came on for final decision in
court; in chapter vi. we have the verb præiudicare.
IV. They only benefit by the blood of Christ who truly share in His death and resurrection.
What hope then do they, who deny the reality of
the human person in our Saviour’s body, leave for themselves in
the efficacy of this mystery? Let them say by what sacrifice they
have been reconciled, by what blood-shedding brought back. Who is
He “who gave Himself for us an offering and a victim to
God for a sweet smell Cf. The idea of vicarious
death was not unfamiliar to the Greeks and Romans: e.g. Alkestis
dying for her husband Admetos, and the fairly numerous examples of
“devotion” of Roman Generals on the battlefield. S.
V. The actions of Christ’s two natures must be kept distinct.
Although therefore in our one Lord Jesus Christ, the true Son of God and man, the person of the Word and of the flesh is
one, and both beings have their actions in common It is scarcely
necessary to point out that the old story of the ‘communicatio
idiomatum’ is here again discussed: cf. the Tome,
chapters iv. and v. S. S.
VI. There is no confusion of the two
natures in Christ Considerable
portions of this chapter are found repeated word for word in Sermon
LXIV. chap. i. and iv.
Although therefore from that beginning whereby in
the Virgin’s womb “the Word became flesh,” no sort of
division ever arose between the Divine and the human substance, and
through all the growth and changes of His body, the actions were of one
Person the whole time, yet we do not by any mixing of them up confound
those very acts which were done inseparably: and from the
character of the acts we perceive what belonged to either form.
For neither do His Divine acts affect Lat.
præiudicant, see note 3 to chap. iii., above. Isti phantasmatici
Christiani, cf. note 5, above.
VII. It was as being “in form of a slave,” not as Son of God that he was exalted.
The whole of this
chapter is repeated with slight variations in his letter (CLXV.) to Leo
the Emperor (chaps. 8 and 10). Quæ ditanda
erat tantæ glorificationis augmento acc. to Leo’s use of
the gerundive, see Tome, chap. i quod…omnium regenerandorum
voce depromitur. Here the word is
actually mysterium, not, as usual, sacramentum. Sacramentum
magnæ pietatis, S. The reference is to
VIII. A protest against their faithlessness and inconsistency in this matter.
And so, as all these heresies have been destroyed,
which through the holy devotion of the presiding Fathers have been cut
off from the body of the catholic unity, and which deserved to be
exiles from Christ, because they have made the Incarnation of the Word,
which is the one salvation of those who believe aright, a stone of
offence and a stumbling-block to themselves, I am surprised that you,
beloved, have any difficulty in discerning the light of the
Truth. And since it has been made clear by numerous explanations
that the Christian Faith was right in condemning both Nestorius and
Eutyches with Dioscorus, and that a man cannot be called a Christian
who gives his assent to the blasphemous opinion of either the one or
the other, I am grieved that you are, as I hear, doing despite to the
teaching of the Gospel and the Apostles by stirring up the various
bodies of citizens with seditions, by disturbing the churches, and by
inflicting not only insults, but even death, upon priests and bishops,
so that you lose sight of your resolves and profession Viz. as monks as well
as baptized members of the church. The Ungulæ
(Claws) were among the numerous instruments with which Christians were
tortured: cf. Tert. Apol. xii. 57, ungulis deraditis latera
christianorum; Cypr. de lapsis chap. xiii. (cum) ungula
effoderet, caro me in colluctatione deseruit. S. Viz. in Baptism.
IX. An exhortation to accept the catholic view of the Incarnation.
Give up, my sons, give up these suggestions of the
devil. God’s Truth nothing can
impair, but the Truth does not save us except in our flesh. For,
as the prophet says, “truth is sprung out of the earth
Letter CXXV.
To Julian, the Bishop, by Count Rodanus.
(Asking him to write quickly, and not keep him in suspense.)
Letter CXXVI.
To Marcian Augustus.
(Congratulating him on the restoration of peace in Palestine.)
Letter CXXVII.
To Julian, Bishop of Cos.
(About (1) affairs in Palestine, (2) a letter from Proterius, (3) the date of Easter, (4) his reply to the Synod of Chalcedon, (5) the deposition of Aetius.)
Letter CXXVIII.
To Marcian Augustus.
(Professing readiness to be reconciled to Anatolius if he will abide by the canons and not infringe the prerogatives of others.)
Letter CXXIX.
To Proterius, Bishop of Alexandria.
Leo to Proterius, bishop of Alexandria.
I. He commends his persistent loyalty to the Faith.
Your letter, beloved, which our brother and
fellow-bishop Nestorius duly brought us, has caused me great joy.
For it was seemly that such an epistle should be sent by the head of
the church of Alexandria to the Apostolic See, as showed that the
Egyptians had from the first learnt from the teaching of the most
blessed Apostle Peter through his blessed disciple Mark S. Mark was the reputed
founder of the church of Alexandria. Cf. Letter IX. chap. 1. See chap. ii. and more
particularly Lett. CXXX. chap. 3 from which it is evident that the
Eutychians had sought to foist upon certain passages in the Tome a
Nestorian interpretation. S.
II. Let him fortify the faithful by the public reading aloud of quotations from the Fathers bearing on the question and of the Tome.
For there is no new preaching in the letter which
I wrote in reply to Flavian of holy memory, when he consulted me about
the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ; for
in nothing did I depart from that rule of Faith which was outspokenly
maintained by your ancestors and ours. And if Dioscorus had been
willing to follow and imitate them, he would have abided in the Body of
Christ, having in the works of Athanasius Who as he himself says
in the next letter, eidem ecclesiæ præfuerunt (CXXX.
ii.). Who as he himself
says in the next letter, eidem ecclesiæ præfuerunt
(CXXX. ii.). Who as he himself says
in the next letter, eidem ecclesiæ præfuerunt (CXXX.
ii.).
III. The ancient precedents are to be maintained throughout.
Accordingly, both in the rule of Faith and in the
observance of discipline, let the standard of antiquity be maintained
throughout, and do thou, beloved, display the firmness of a prudent
ruler, that the church of Alexandria may get the benefit of my earnest
resistance to the unprincipled ambition of certain people in
maintaining its ancient privileges, and of my determination that all
metropolitans should retain their dignity undiminished, as you will
ascertain from the tenor of my letters, which I have addressed, whether
to the holy Synod or to the most Christian Emperor, or to the Bishop of
Constantinople; for you will perceive that I have made it my special
care to allow no deviation from the rule of Faith in the Lord’s
churches, nor any diminution of their privileges through any
individual’s unscrupulousness. And as this is so, hold
fast, brother, to the custom of your predecessors, and keep due
authority over your comprovincial bishops, who by ancient constitution
are subject to the See of Alexandria; so that they resist not
ecclesiastical usage, and refuse not to meet together under your
presidency, either at fixed times or when any reasonable cause demands
it: and that if anything has to be discussed in a general meeting
which will be to the benefit of the Church, when the brethren have thus
met together, they may unanimously come to
Letter CXXX.
To Marcian Augustus.
(Praising the orthodoxy of Proterius, advocating the public recital by him of passages bearing on the present controversy from the writings of Athanasius and others, and also of the Tome itself in a new Greek translation.)
Letter CXXXI.
To Julian, Bishop of Cos.
(Telling him he has received Proterius’ letter, and asking for (1) a new Greek translation of the Tome; (2) a report on the Easter difficulty of the next year (455)).
Letter CXXXII.
From Anatolius, Bishop of Constantinople, to Leo.
(In which he complains of the intermission in their correspondence, maintains his allegiance to Rome, announces the restitution of Aetius, deprecates the charge of personal ambition, and remits the proceedings of Chalcedon for his approval.)
Letter CXXXIII.
From Proterius, Bishop of Alexandria, to Leo.
(Upon the Easter difficulty of 455.)
Letter CXXXIV.
To Marcian Augustus.
(Suggesting that Eutyches should be banished to a still remoter place, where he cannot do so much harm by his false teaching.)
Letter CXXXV.
To Anatolius.
(In Answer to CXXXII.)
Letter CXXXVI.
To Marcian Augustus.
(Simultaneously with CXXXV., on the subject of his reconciliation with Anatolius.)
Letter CXXXVII.
To the same, and on the same day.
(On the subject of Easter, acknowledging the
trouble Proterius has taken,—to which is joined a request that
the accounts of the œconomi
Œconomi(stewards) were officers appointed to manage
the revenues of each diocese under the bishops’ direction, when
the bishops and their archdeacons had enough to do otherwise: cf.
Bingham, Antiq., Bk. III. chap. xii.
Letter CXXXVIII.
To the Bishops of Gaul and Spain.
(On Easter.)
Letter CXXXIX.
To Juvenal, Bishop of Jerusalem.
Leo, bishop of the city of Rome, to Juvenal, bishop of Jerusalem.
I. He rejoices over Juvenal’s return to orthodoxy, though chiding him for having gone astray.
When I received your letter, beloved, which our
sons Andrew the presbyter and Peter the deacon brought me, I rejoiced
indeed that you had been allowed to return to the seat of your
bishopric; but when all the reasons came to my remembrance, which
brought you into such excessive troubles, I grieved to think you had
been yourself the source of your adversities by failing in persistency
of opposition to the heretics: for men can but think you were not
bold enough to refute those with whom when in error you professed
yourself satisfied. For the condemnation of Flavian of blessed
memory, and the acceptance of the most unholy Eutyches, what was it but
the denial of our Lord Jesus Christ according
to the flesh? which He Himself of His great mercy caused to be
overthrown, when by the authority of the holy Council of Chalcedon He
brought to nought that accursed judgment of the Synod of Ephesus
without debarring any of the attainted from being healed by
correction. And therefore, because in the time of long-suffering,
you have chosen return to wisdom rather than persistency in folly, I
rejoice that you have so sought the heavenly remedies as at last to
have become a defender of the Faith which is assailed by
heretics. For, though no priest ought to be ignorant of that
which he preaches Quod
prædicat, some mss.
quid prædicat (what to preach): some also add
quoniam qui ignorat, ignorabitur (from S.
II. Let him be strengthened in his faith by the holy associations of the place where he lives.
Make use, therefore, beloved brother, of these
incontrovertible proofs of the catholic Faith and support the preaching
of the Evangelists by the testimony of the holy places in which you
live. In your country is Bethlehem, in which the Light of
Salvation sprang from the womb of the Virgin of the house of
David Salutifer
Davidicæ Virginis partus illuxit.
III. The facts of the Gospel attest the Incarnation.
The true birth of Christ, therefore, is confirmed
by the true cross; since He is Himself born in our flesh, Who is
crucified in our flesh, which, as no sin entered into it, could not
have been mortal, unless it had been that of our race. But in
order that He might restore life to all, He undertook the cause of all
and rendered void the force of the old bond, by paying it for all,
because He alone of us all did not owe it: that, as by one
man’s guilt all had become sinners, so by one man’s
innocence all might become innocent, righteousness being bestowed upon
men by Him Who had undertaken man’s nature. For in no way
is He outside our true bodily nature, of Whom the Evangelist in
beginning his story says, “the book of the generation of Jesus
Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham S.
IV. Those who are still in error must be thoroughly instructed in the historic Faith.
But how many are the authorities, both in the New and Old Testaments, by which this truth is declared, as befits the antiquity of your See, you clearly understand, seeing that the belief of the Fathers and my letter written to Flavian, of holy memory, of which you yourself made mention, confirmed, as they have been, by the universal synod, are sufficient for you. And therefore it behoves you, beloved, to take heed that no one raise a murmur against the unspeakable mystery of our Redemption and Hope. But if there are any who are still in the darkness of ignorance or the discord of perversity, let them be instructed by the authority of those whose doctrine in God’s Church was apostolical and clear, that they may recognize that on the Incarnation of God’s Word we believe what they did, and may not by their obstinacy place themselves outside the Body of Christ, in which we died and rose with Him: because neither loyalty to the Faith nor the plan of the mystery admits that either the Godhead should be possible in its own essence, or the reality be falsified in His taking on Him of our flesh. Dated 4th September, in the consulship of the illustrious Aetius and Studius (454).
To Julian, Bishop of Cos.
(Now that Dioscorus is dead, the peace of the Church will be more easily restored.)
Letter CXLI.
To the Same.
(On several minor points of detail.)
Letter CXLII.
To Marcian Augustus.
(Inter alia thanking him for the trouble he has taken about the Easter of 455.)
Letter CXLIII.
To Anatolius, Bishop of Constantinople.
(Briefly asking him to extirpate all remains of heresy.)
Letter CXLIV.
To Julian, Bishop of Cos.
(Speaking of rumours which have reached him of disturbances at Alexandria, and begging of him to be on the alert.)
Letter CXLV.
To Leo Augustus Marcian died in 457,
and was succeeded by Leo of Thrace.
(Asking him to help the church of Alexandria in
appointing a good bishop in place of the murdered Proterius On Marcian’s
death there had been a rising, in which Proterius had been brutally
murdered, and a monk named Timothy Ælurus set up in his stead.
Letter CXLVI.
To Anatolius, Bishop of Constantinople.
(Begging him to take precautions lest the change of Emperor should be made the occasion for fresh outbreaks of heresy.)
Letter CXLVII.
To Julian, Bishop of Cos, and Aetius, the Presbyter.
(Charging him to uphold the acts of Chalcedon, and to help in choosing a good successor to Proterius.)
Letter CXLVIII.
To Leo Augustus.
(Thanking him for assurances made that he would guard the interests of the Church.)
Letter CXLIX.
To Basil, Bishop of Antioch.
(Asking him to give no countenance to the demand for a new Synod.)
Letter CL.
To Euxitheus, Bishop of Thessalonica (and Others).
(To the same effect.)
Letter CLI.
To Anatolius, Bishop of Constantinople.
(He is to keep the church of Constantinople free from all heresy.)
Letter CLII.
To Julian, Bishop of Cos.
(Charging him to see that the preceding letters reach their destination.)
Letter CLIII.
To Aetius, Presbyter of Constantinople.
(Asking him to assist in the distribution of these letters.)
Letter CLIV.
To the Egyptian Bishops.
(See Letter CLVIII.)
Letter CLV.
To Anatolius, Bishop of Constantinople.
(In which he incites him to watchfulness, and complains that certain of the clergy in Constantinople are in collusion with the adversary.)
Letter CLVI.
To Leo Augustus.
Leo, the bishop, to Leo Augustus.
I. There is no need to open the question of doctrine again now.
Your clemency’s letter, which was full of
vigorous faith and of the light of truth, I have respectfully received,
which I wish I could obey, even in the matter of my personal
attendance, which your Majesty thinks necessary; for then I should gain
the greater advantage from the sight of your splendour. But I
believe you will approve of my view when reason has shown it
preferable. For since with holy and spiritual zeal you
consistently maintain the Church’s peace, and nothing is more
conducive to the defence of the Faith than to adhere to those things
which have been incontrovertibly defined under the unceasing guidance
of the Holy Spirit, we shall seem i.e. by carrying out
your plan. The appeal to the Emperor’s orthodoxy must be
regarded as diplomatic rather than accurate: for Leo was the
nominee of Arianism, if not himself an Arian.
II. The proposal to reconsider the question proceeds from Antichrist or the Devil himself.
Since, therefore, the universal Church has become
a rock (petra) through the building up of that original
Rock Per illius
principalis petræ ædificationem: here petra
is apparently Christ Himself, cf. Letter XXVIII. chap. 5, and
Bright’s n. 64. S.
III. All the bishops of Christendom agree with him in this.
Therefore in addressing our most Christian
Emperor, who is worthy to be classed among the champions of Christ, I
use the freedom of the catholic Faith and fearlessly exhort you to
throw in your lot with Apostles and Prophets; firmly to despise and
reject those who have deprived themselves of their Christian name, and
not to let blasphemous parricides, who, it is agreed, wish to annul the
Faith, discuss that Faith under treacherous pretexts. For since
the Lord has enriched your clemency with such
insight into His mystery, you ought unhesitatingly to consider that the
kingly power has been conferred on you not for the governance of the
world alone but more especially for the guardianship of the
Church: that by quelling wicked attempts you may both defend that
which has been rightly decreed, and restore true peace where there has
been disturbance, that is to say by deposing usurpers Sc. Timothy
Ælurus. Pervasione,
others read persuasione (false opinion).
IV. The difference between the two petitions which have been presented to the Emperor.
Petitions have been presented to your
Majesty These had come, one
from either side, as the sequel shows: that of the catholics was
signed by fourteen bishops, four presbyters, and two deacons
(Ball.). Audiri:
others auderi (to have been ventured on).
V. It is a great opportunity for the Emperor to show his faith.
Is it not clear which side you ought to support
and which to oppose, if the Church of Alexandria, which has always been
the “house of prayer,” is not now to be “a den of
robbers S. Cf. Serm. LXVI.
chap. 2, nobiscum est signaculum circumcisionis, sanctificatio
chrismatum, consecratio sacerdotum: see Bright’s n. 90,
from which we learn that “this chrism was that which, from the
second century, had been administered in connection with
Confirmation.” This rite, which had at first been part of
the Baptism itself, was now apparently performed at a shorter or longer
interval after Baptism according to the convenience of the
Bishop: cf. Serm. LXXVII. 1.
VI. He promises more detailed statements on the Faith subsequently, and begs him to correct certain things in which Anatolius is remiss.
But in order that my correspondence may have the
effect on your Majesty of a mouth to mouth colloquy, I have seen that
whatever suggestions I would make about our common Faith, must be
conveyed in subsequent communications Viz. Letters CLXII.,
CLXIV., and esp. CLXV. (which last is in a large measure a rescription
of Letter CXXIV. q.v.). Two of these are
mentioned by name subsequently, e.g. in Lett. CLVII. (to Anatolius),
chap. 4, viz. Atticus a presbyter and Andrew, in which chapter he
blames Anatolius severely for his double-dealing (cogor vehementius
de tua dissimulatione causari, etc.).
To Anatolius, Bishop of Constantinople.
(Urging him to active measures in certain specified matters.)
Letter
CLVIII One of three
Letters, the other two being CLIV. and CLX., first printed by Quesnel
on the authority apparently of a single ms.
(Codex Grimanicus), and addressed to the bishops (and clergy) who had
fled out of Egypt to Constantinople in consequence of the recent
disturbances. Letter CLX. mentions fifteen of them by name but is
not otherwise so interesting as CLVIII., the one selected for
translation.
To the Catholic Bishops of Egypt Sojourning in Constantinople.
Leo to the catholic Egyptian bishops sojourning in Constantinople.
He encourages them in their sufferings for the Faith, and in their entreaties for redress to the Emperor.
I have before now been so saddened by tidings of
the crimes committed in Alexandria, and my spirit has been so wounded
by the atrocity of the deed itself, that I know not what tears to show
and what lamentation to utter over it, and am fain to use the
prophet’s language, “who will give waters to my head and a
fountain of tears to my eyes Proterius had been
slain in the baptistery die Cænæ Domini (? Thursday in
Holy Week). The
ms. reads vel here, but I think
the Ball. are right in maintaining that Leo does at times use
vel for et. Viz. Lett. CLVI q.v.
Letter CLIX.
To Nicætas, Bishop of Aquileia.
(Leo, the bishop, to Nicætas, bishop of Aquileia, greeting.)
I. Prefatory.
My son Adeodatus, deacon of our See, on returning to us has delivered your request, beloved, to receive from us the authority of the Apostolic See upon matters which seem indeed to be hard to decide, but which we must make provision for with a view to the necessities of the times that the wounds which have been inflicted by the attacks of the enemy may be healed chiefly by the agency of religion.
II. About the women who married again when their husbands were taken prisoners.
As then you say that through the disasters of war and
through the grievous inroads of the enemy families have in certain
cases been so broken up that the husbands have been carried off into
captivity and their wives remain forsaken, and these latter thinking
their own husbands either dead or never likely to be freed from their
masters, have contracted another marriage under stress of loneliness,
and as, now that the state of things has im
III. Whether he is blameable who has taken the prisoner’s wife?
But notwithstanding let him not be held blameable and treated as the invader of another’s right, who took the place of the husband, who was thought no longer alive. For thus many things which belonged to those led into captivity happened to pass into the possession of others, and yet it is altogether fair that on their return their property should be restored. And if this is duly observed in the case of slaves or of lands, or even of houses and personal goods, how much more ought it to be done in the restoration of wives, that what has been disturbed by the necessities of war may be restored by the remedy of peace?
IV. The wife must be restored to her first husband.
And, therefore, if husbands who have returned
after a long captivity still feel such affection for their wives as to
desire them to return to partnership There is little
doubt, I think, that the return of the wife was at the husband’s
option in Leo’s opinion, and could not be forced upon him.
V. Women must be excommunicated who refuse to return.
And if any women are so possessed by love of their later husbands as to prefer to remain with them than to return to their lawful partners, they are deservedly to be branded: so that they be even deprived of the Church’s communion; for in a pardonable matter they have chosen to taint themselves with crime, showing that they have sought their own pleasure in their incontinence, when a rightful restitution could have obtained their forgiveness. Let them return then to their former state and make voluntary reparation, nor let that which a condition of necessity extorted from them be by any means turned into disgrace through evil desires; because, as those women who refuse to return to their husbands are to be held unholy, so they who return to an affection entered on with God’s sanction are deservedly to be praised.
VI. About captives, who were compelled to eat of sacrificial food.
Concerning those Christians who are asserted to have been polluted with sacrificial food, while among those by whom they were taken prisoners, we have thought it right to make this reply to your enquiry, dear brother, that they be purged by a satisfactory penitence which is to be measured not so much by the duration of the process as by the intensity of the feeling. And whether their compliance was wrung from them by terror or hunger, there need be no hesitation at acquitting them, since the food was taken from fear or want, not from superstitious reverence.
VII. About those who in fear or by mistake were re-baptized.
But as to those about whom you thought, beloved, we ought likewise to be consulted who were either forced by fear or led by mistake to repeat their baptism, and now understand that they acted contrary to the ordinances of the catholic Faith, such moderation must be observed towards them that they be received into full communion with us, but not without the healing of penitence and the imposition of the bishop’s hands, the length of the penance (with due regard to moderation) being left to your judgment, as you shall perceive the minds of the penitents to be disposed: in which you must not forget to consider old age, illness, and other risks. For if a man be in so dangerous a case that his life is despaired of, while he is still under penance, he should receive the gracious aid of communion by the priest’s tender care.
VIII. About baptism by heretics.
For they who have received baptism from heretics,
not having been previously baptized, are to be confirmed by imposition
of hands with only the invocation of the Holy Ghost, because they have
received the bare form of baptism without the power of
sanctification Leo repeats this
injunction in Letter CLXVI. chap. 2. and Lett. CLXVII., inquiry
18. Quesnel identifies this ceremony with the right of
Confirmation, but the Ballerinii are probably right in thinking this a
mistake, and in identifying it with the manuum impositio in
pœnitentiam mentioned by Cyprian and other fathers. See
Lett. CLXVI. chap. 2, n. 5b.
Letter CLX.
(See Letter CLVIII.)
Letter CLXI.
To the Presbyters, Deacons and Clergy of the Church of Constantinople.
(Exhorting them to remain stedfast in the Faith as fixed at Chalcedon, and to have no dealings with Atticus and Andrew unless they recant.)
Letter CLXII.
To Leo Augustus.
By the hand of Philoxenus agens in
rebus Cf. Lett. XCV. n.
6.
I. The decrees of Chalcedon and Nicæa are identical and final.
With much joy my mind exults in the Lord, and great is my cause for thankfulness, now that I
perceive your clemency’s most excellent faith to be in all things
enlarged by the gifts of heavenly grace, and I experience by increased
diligence the devotion of a priestly mind in you. For in your
Majesty’s communications it is beyond doubt revealed what the
Holy Spirit is working through you for the good of the whole Church,
and how greatly it is to be desired by the prayers of all the faithful
that your empire may be everywhere extended with glory, seeing that
besides your care for things temporal you so perseveringly exercise a
religious foresight in the service of what is divine and eternal:
to wit that the catholic Faith, which alone gives life to and alone
hallows mankind, may abide in the one confession, and the dissensions
which spring from the variety of earthly opinions may be driven away,
most glorious Emperor, from that solid Rock, on which the city of
God is built. And these gifts of
God will at last be granted us from Him, if we
be not found ungrateful for what has been vouchsafed, and as though
what we have gained were naught, we seek not rather the very
opposite. For to seek what has been discovered, to reconsider
what has been completed, and to demolish what has been defined, what
else is it but to return no thanks for things gained and to indulge the
unholy longings of deadly lust on the food of the forbidden tree?
And hence by deigning to show a more careful regard for the peace of
the universal Church, you manifestly recognize what is the design of
the heretics’ mighty intrigues that a more careful discussion
should take place between the disciples of Eutyches and Dioscorus and
the emissary of the Apostolic See, as if nothing had already been
defined, and that what with the glad approval of the catholic priests
of the whole world was determined at the holy Synod of Chalcedon should
be rendered invalid to the detriment also of the most sacred Council of
Nicæa. For what in our own days at Chalcedon was determined
concerning our Lord Jesus Christ’s
Incarnation, was also so defined at Nicæa by that mystic number of
Fathers The number was
318: cf. Lett. CVI. 2, where the exact number is quoted and the
explanation perhaps is given of Leo’s epithet
“mystic” here applied to it.
II. The wicked designs of heretics must be stedfastly resisted.
Therefore we must abhor and persistently avoid what
heretical deceit is striving to obtain, nor must what has been well and
fully defined be brought again under discussion, lest we ourselves
should seem at the will of condemned men to have doubts concerning
things which it is clear agree throughout with the authority of
Prophets, Evangelists, and Apostles. And hence, if there are any
who disagree with these heaven-inspired decisions, let them be left to
their own opinions and depart from the unity of the Church with that
perverse sect which they have chosen. For it can in no wise be
that men who dare to speak against divine mysteries are associated in
any communion with us. Let them pride themselves on the emptiness
of their talk and boast of the cleverness of their arguments against
the Faith: we
III. He promises to send envoys not to discuss with the Eutychians, but to explain the Faith to the Emperor.
Although, therefore, I am very confident of the
piety of your heart in all things, and perceive that through the Spirit
of God dwelling in you, you are sufficiently
instructed, nor can any error delude your faith, yet I will endeavour
to follow your bidding so far as to send certain of my brothers to
represent my person before you, and to set forth what the Apostolic
rule of Faith is, although, as I have said, it is well known to you, in
all things making it clear and certain that they are not in any way to
be reckoned among catholics, who do not accept the definitions of the
venerable Synod of Nicæa or the ordinances of the holy Council of
Chalcedon, inasmuch as it is evident the holy decrees of both proceed
from the Evangelical and Apostolical source, and whatever is not of
Christ’s watering is like a snake-poisoned draught Poculi esse
viperei.
IV. The heretics must be forced to give up their usurpations and left to the judgment of God.
But we do not refuse the assistance of our
ministry for the instruction of our little ones, who after being fed
with milk desire to be satisfied with more solid food: and as we
do not scorn the simple folk, so we will have no dealings with rebel
heretics, remembering the Lord’s
command, who says, “Give not that which is holy to the dogs, nor
cast your pearls before swine S. Sc. in the persons of
Proterius and Timothy Ælurus. Sc. in the persons of
Proterius and Timothy Ælurus.
Letter CLXIII.
To Anatolius, Bishop of Constantinople. By Patritius the Deacon the Deacon.
(Glorying over the harshness of his former letter, to which Anatolius had objected, but persisting that he is not satisfied with the explanation Atticus had furnished of his orthodoxy.)
Letter CLXIV. Portions of this letter
are found quoted by various ancient Fathers, e.g. by Popes Vigilius and
Pelagius II. in the sixth cent; by Facundus, bishop of Hermiæ, in
the same century, and almost one half of the whole by Prudentius,
bishop of Troyes (ninth cent.) in his famous treatise on Predestination
against John Scotus Erigena. Quesnel, however, appears to have
been the first to print it as a whole ex codice Grimanico;
after which the Ball. also discovered it in the Ratisbon ms.
To Leo Augustus.
Leo, the bishop, to Leo Augustus.
I. He sends envoys but deprecates any fresh discussion of the Faith.
Rejoicing that it has been proved to me by
Loosely quoted from
II. In matters of Faith human rhetoric is out of place.
For if it be always free for human fancies to
assert themselves in dispute, there never will be wanting men who will
dare to oppose the Truth, and to put their trust in the glib utterances
of this world’s wisdom, whereas the Christian Faith and wisdom
knows from the teaching of our Lord Jesus
Christ Himself how strictly it ought to shun this most harmful
vanity. For when Christ was about to summon all nations to the
illumination of the Faith, He chose those who were to devote themselves
to the preaching of the Gospel not from among philosophers or orators,
but took humble fishermen as the instruments by which He would reveal
Himself, lest the heavenly teaching, which was of itself full of mighty
power, should seem to need the aid of words. And hence the
Apostle protests and says, “For Christ sent me not to baptize but
to preach the Gospel, not in wisdom of words lest the cross of Christ
should be made void; for the word of the cross is to them indeed that
perish foolishness, but to those which are being saved it is the power
of God. For it is written, I will
destroy the wisdom of the wise and the prudence of the prudent will I
reject. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the
inquirer of this age? has not God made foolish
the wisdom of this world
III. Eutyches’ dogma is condemned by the testimony of Scripture and cannot further be entertained.
But nothing severs those who are deceived by their
own inventions, from the light of the Gospel so much as their not
thinking that the Lord’s Incarnation
appertains in a true sense to man’s, that is, our, nature:
as if it were unworthy of God’s glory
that the majesty of the impassible Word should have taken the reality
of human flesh, whereas men’s salvation could not otherwise have
been restored had not He Who is in the form of God deigned also to take the form of a slave. And
hence since the holy Synod of Chalcedon, which was attended by all the
provinces of the Roman world and obtained universal acceptance for its
decisions, and is in complete harmony therein with the most sacred
council of Nicæa, has cut off all the wicked followers of the
Eutychian dogma from the body of the catholic communion, how shall any
of the lapsed regain the peace of the church, without purging himself
by a full course of penitence? For what licence can be granted
them for discussing, when they have deserved to be condemned by a just
and holy
IV. If the Divine mercy is to be exercised, the heretics must cease entirely from the error of their ways.
What therefore the unholy parricide has
perpetrated by seizing on the holy Church and cruelly murdering its
very ruler, cannot be expiated by man’s forgiveness, unless He
Who alone can rightly punish such things, and alone can of His
unspeakable mercy remit them, be propitiated. But though we are
not anxious for vengeance, we cannot in any way be allied with the
devil’s servants. Yet if we learn they are quitting the
ranks of heresy, repenting them of their error and turning from the
weapons of discord to the lamentations of sorrow, we also can intercede
for them, lest they perish for ever, thus following the example of the
Lord’s loving-kindness, who, when nailed
to the wood of the cross prayed for His persecutors, “Father,
forgive them; for they know not what they do S.
V. Let him restore the refugee clergy and laity and utterly reject those who persist in heresy.
I entreat your clemency, listen to the suggestions
of my brethren already mentioned, whom, as I some time ago have said in
a former letter Viz. Lett. CLXII. chap.
iii.
Letter CLXV.
To Leo Augustus.
[This letter, which is sometimes called the Second Tome,
contains the detailed statement of the catholic doctrine of the
Incarnation, which Leo had promised the Emperor in Letter CLVI.
It consists of 9 chapters, but, as chaps. iii. to viii. and parts of
ii. and ix. are almost identical in language with Letter CXXIV.,
already given in full, I have not thought it necessary to reproduce the
letter here. At the end a long series of quotations
Letter CLXVI.
To Neo, Bishop of Ravenna.
Leo, the bishop, to Neo, bishop of Ravenna, greeting.
I. Those, who being taken captives in infancy cannot remember or bring witnesses of their baptism, must not be denied this sacrament.
We have indeed frequently, God’s Spirit instructing us, steadied the
brethren’s hearts, when they were tottering on the slippery
places of doubtful questions, by formulating an answer either out of
the teaching of the Holy Scriptures or from the rules of the
Fathers: but lately in Synod a new and hitherto unheard-of
subject of debate has arisen. For at the instance of certain
brethren we have discovered that some of the prisoners of war, on their
free return to their own homes, such to wit as went into captivity at
an age when they could have no sure knowledge of anything, crave the
healing waters of baptism, but in the ignorance of infancy cannot
remember whether they have received the mystery and rites of baptism,
and that therefore in this uncertainty of defective recollection their
souls are brought into jeopardy, so long as under a show of caution
they are denied a grace, which is withheld, because it is thought to
have been bestowed. And so, since certain brethren in a not
unjustifiable fear have hesitated to perform the rites of the
Lord’s mystery, at a synodal meeting, as
we have said, we have received a formal request for advice on this
matter, and in carefully discussing it, we have desired to weigh each
members opinion, and to handle it in so cautious a manner as to arrive
with certainty at the truth by making use of the knowledge of
many. Consequently the same things, which have come into our mind
by the Divine inspiration, have received the assent and confirmation of
a large number of the brethren. And so we are bound before all
things to take heed lest, while we hold fast to a certain show of
caution, we incur a loss of souls who are to be regenerated. For
who is so given over to suspicions as to decide that to be true which
without any evidence he suspects by mere guesswork? And so
wherever the man himself who is anxious for the new birth does not
recollect his baptism, and no one can bear witness about him being
unaware of his consecration to God, there is
no possibility for sin to creep in, seeing that, so far as their
knowledge goes, neither the bestower or receiver of the consecration is
guilty. We know indeed that an unpardonable offence is committed,
whenever in accordance with the institutions of heretics which the holy
Fathers have condemned, any one is forced twice to enter the font,
which is but once available for those who are to be reborn, in
opposition to the Apostle’s teaching Viz.
II. Baptism by heretics must not be invalidated by second baptism.
But if it is established that a man has been
baptized by heretics, on him the mystery of regeneration must in no
wise be repeated, but only that conferred which was wanting before, so
that he may obtain the power of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the
Bishop’s hands See n. 2 to Lett.
CLIX. chap. 8.
Letter
CLXVII The date of this
important letter has been variously conjectured, Quesnel assigning it
to the years 442–4, Sirmond and Baluze to 452, and the Ball.
preferring 458 or 9.
To Rusticus, Bishop of Gallia Narbonensis, with the replies to his Questions on various points.
Leo, the bishop, to Rusticus, bishop of Gallia Narbonensis.
Your letter, brother, which Hermes your
archdeacon In an inscription
quoted from Gruter and Baluze by Quesnel, Hermes is mentioned as
diacunus to Rusticus episcopus. He was
afterwards made bp. of Biterra, but being unfairly expelled by that
city, he succeeded Rusticus in Narbonensis. Honorati. Tuæ,
others suæ (the bishops).
II. He expostulates with him for wishing to give up his office, which would imply distrust of God’s promises.
But I am surprised, beloved, that you are so
disturbed by opposition in consequence of offences, from whatever cause
arising, as to say you would rather be relieved of the labours of your
bishopric, and live in quietness and ease than continue in the office
committed to you. But since the Lord
says, “blessed is he who shall persevere unto the end S. The thought of this
fine passage is more fully worked out in Sermon XLVIII., chaps. 2 and
3. Cf. esp. the remark, bellum vitiis potius quam hominibus
indicunt, “nulli malum pro malo
reddentes” sed correctionem peccantium semper
optantes. S. S.
III. Many of the questions raised could be more easily settled in a personal interview than on paper.
On those points of inquiry, beloved, which your
archdeacon has brought me separately written out, it would be easier to
arrive at conclusions on each point face to face, if you could grant us
the advantage of your presence. For since some questions seem to
exceed the limits of ordinary diligence, I perceive that they are
better suited to conversation than to writing: for as there are
certain things which can in no wise be controverted, so there are many
things which require to be modified either by considerations of age or
by the necessities of the case; always provided that we remember in
things which are doubtful or obscure, that
Question I. Concerning a presbyter or deacon who falsely claims to be a bishop, and those whom they have ordained.
Reply. No
consideration permits men to be reckoned among bishops who have not
been elected by the clergy, demanded by the laity, and consecrated by
the bishops of the province with the assent of the
metropolitan The same requisites
of ordination of bishops are laid down in Lett. X. chap. 6.
Question II. Concerning a presbyter or deacon, who on his crime being known asks for public penance, whether it is to be granted him by laying on of hands?
Reply. It is
contrary to the custom of the Church that they who have been dedicated
to the dignity of the presbyterate or the rank of the diaconate, should
receive the remedy of penitence by laying on of hands for any crime;
which doubtless descends from the Apostles’ tradition, according
to what is written, “If a priest shall have sinned, who shall
pray for him
Question III. Concerning those who minister at the altar and have wives, whether they may lawfully cohabit with them?
Reply. The law of
continence is the same for the ministers The order of
sub-deacons (acc. to Quesnel) is here particularly meant: cf.
Lett. XIV. chap. 4. The readers (lectores) mentioned
below were of course one of the Minor Orders of clergy: cf.
Bingham, Antiq. Bk. V. chap. iii.
Question IV. Concerning a presbyter or deacon who has given his unmarried daughter in marriage to a man who already had a woman joined to him, by whom he had also had children.
Reply. Not every
woman that is joined to a man is his wife, even as every son is not his
father’s heir. But the marriage bond is legitimate between
the freeborn and between equals: this was laid down by the
Lord long before the Roman law had its
beginning. And so a wife is different from a concubine, even as a
bondwoman from a freewoman. For which reason also the Apostle in
order to show the difference of these persons quotes from Genesis,
where it is said to Abraham, “Cast out the bondwoman and her
son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with my son
Isaac
Question V. Concerning young women who have married men that have concubines.
Reply. Those who are joined to husbands by their fathers’ will are free from blame, if the women whom their husbands had were not in wedlock.
Question VI. Concerning those who leave the women by whom they have children and take wives.
Reply. Seeing that the wife is different from the concubine, to turn a bondwoman from one’s couch and take a wife whose free birth is assured, is not bigamy but an honourable proceeding.
Reply. Such men’s neglect is to be blamed but not finally to be abandoned, in order that they may be incited by frequent exhortations to carry out faithfully what under stress of need they asked for. For no one is to be despaired of so long as he remain in this body, because sometimes what the diffidence of age puts off is accomplished by maturer counsels.
Question VIII. Concerning those who on their deathbed promise repentance and die before receiving communion.
Reply. Their cause is reserved for the judgment of God, in Whose hand it was that their death was put off until the very time of communion. But we cannot be in communion with those, when dead, with whom when alive we were not in communion.
Question IX. Concerning those who under pressure of great pain ask for penance to be granted them, and when the presbyter has come to give what they seek, if the pain has abated somewhat, make excuses and refuse to accept what is offered.
Reply. This tergiversation cannot proceed from contempt of the remedy but from fear of falling into worse sin. Hence the penance which is put off, when it is more earnestly sought must not be denied in order that the wounded soul may in whatever way attain to the healing of absolution.
Question X. Concerning those who have professed repentance, if they begin to go to law in the forum.
Reply. To demand
just debts is indeed one thing and to think nothing of one’s own
property from the perfection of love is another. But one who
craves pardon for unlawful doings ought to abstain even from many
things that are lawful, as says the Apostle, “all things are
lawful for me, but all things are not expedient
Question XI. Concerning those who during or after penance transact business.
Reply. The nature of their gains either excuses or condemns the trafficker, because there is an honourable and a base kind of profit. Notwithstanding it is more expedient for the penitent to suffer loss than to be involved in the risks of trafficking, because it is hard for sin not to come into transactions between buyer and seller.
Question XII. Concerning those who return to military service after doing penance.
Reply. It is
altogether contrary to the rules of the Church to return to military
service in the world after doing penance, as the Apostle says,
“No soldier in God’s service
entangles himself in the affairs of the world
Question XIII. Concerning those who after penance take wives or join themselves to concubines.
Reply. If a young man under fear of death or the dangers of captivity has done penance, and afterwards fearing to fall into youthful incontinence has chosen to marry a wife lest he should be guilty of fornication, he seems to have committed a pardonable act, so long as he has known no woman whatever save his wife. Yet herein we lay down no rule, but express an opinion as to what is less objectionable. For according to a true view of the matter nothing better suits him who has done penance than continued chastity both of mind and body.
Question XIV. Concerning monks who take to military service or to marriage.
Reply. The monk’s vow being undertaken of his own will or wish cannot be given up without sin. For that which a man has vowed to God, he ought also to pay. Hence he who abandons his profession of a single life and betakes himself to military service or to marriage, must make atonement and clear himself publicly, because although such service may be innocent and the married state honourable, it is transgression to have forsaken the higher choice.
Question XV. Concerning young women who have worn the religious habit for some time but have not been dedicated, if they afterwards marry.
Reply. Young women, who
without being forced by their parents’ command but of their own
free-will have taken the vow and habit of virginity, if afterwards they
choose wedlock, act wrongly, even though they have not received
Question XVI. Concerning those who have been left as infants by christian parents, if no proof of their baptism can be found whether they ought to be baptized?
Reply. If no proof exist among their kinsfolk and relations, nor among the clergy or neighbours whereby those, about whom the question is raised, may be proved to have been baptized, steps must be taken for their regeneration: lest they evidently perish; for in their case reason does not allow that what is not shown to have been done should seem to be repeated.
Question XVII.
Concerning those who have been captured by the enemy and are not
aware whether they have been baptized but know they were several times
taken to church by their parents, whether they can or ought to be
baptized when they come back to Roman territory On these points, cf.
Letter CLXVI., to Neo, bp. of Ravenna.
Reply. Those who
can remember that they used to go to church with their parents can
remember whether they received what used to be given to their
parents Viz. the sacred
elements of the Eucharist.
Question XVIII.
Concerning those who have come from Africa or Mauretania and know
not in what sect they were baptized, what ought to be done in their
case On these points,
cf. Letter CLXVI., to Neo, bp. of Ravenna.
Reply. These persons are not doubtful of their baptism, but profess ignorance as to the faith of those who baptized them: and hence since they have received the form of baptism in some way or other, they are not to be baptized but are to be united to the catholics by imposition of hands, after the invocation of the Holy Spirit’s power, which they could not receive from heretics.
Question XIX. Concerning those who after being baptized in infancy were captured by the Gentiles, and lived with them after the manner of the Gentiles, when they come back to Roman territory as still young men, if they seek Communion, what shall be done?
Reply. If they have only lived with Gentiles and eaten sacrificial food, they can be purged by fasting and laying on of hands, in order that for the future abstaining from things offered to idols, they may be partakers of Christ’s mysteries. But if they have either worshipped idols or been polluted with manslaughter or fornication, they must not be admitted to communion, except by public penance.
Letter CLXVIII.
To all the Bishops of Campania, Samnium and Picenum.
(Rebuking them first for performing baptisms without due preparation or sufficient cause on ordinary saints’-days (Easter and Whitsuntide being the only recognized times), and secondly for requiring from penitents that a list of their offences should be read out publicly, a practice which is in many ways objectionable.)
Letter CLXIX.
To Leo Augustus.
Leo, the bishop, to Leo Augustus.
I. He heartily thanks the Emperor for what he has done, and asks him to complete the work in any way he can.
If we should seek to reward your Majesty’s
glorious resolution in defence of the Faith with all the praise that
the greatness of the issue demands, we should be found unequal to the
task of giving thanks and celebrating the joy of the universal Church
with our feeble tongue. But His worthier recompense awaits your
acts and deserts, in whose cause you have shown so excellent a zeal,
and are now triumphing gloriously over the attainment of the wished-for
end. Your clemency must know therefore that all the churches of
God join in praising you and rejoicing that
the unholy parricide has been cast off from the neck of the Alexandrine
church, and that God’s people, on whom
the abominable robber has been so great a burden, restored to the
ancient liberty of the Faith, can now be recalled into the way of
salvation by the preaching of faithful priests, when it sees the whole
hotbed of pestilence done away with in the person of the originator
himself. Now therefore, because you have accomplished this by
firm resolution and stedfast will, complete your tale of work for the
Faith by passing such decrees as shall be well-pleasing to God in favour of this city’s catholic ruler This is another
Timothy surnamed Solophaciolus, supposed to be the same as that
Timotheos presbyter et œconomus Ecclesiæ, mentioned
among the Egyptian refugees who petitioned the Emperor against
Ælurus.
II. Good works as well as integrity of faith is required in a priest.
But you see, venerable Emperor, and clearly
understand, that in the person, whose excommunication is contemplated,
it is not only the integrity of his faith that must be considered; for
even if that could be purged by any punishments and confessions, and
completely restored by any conditions, yet the wicked and bloody deeds
that have been committed can never be done away by the protestations of
plausible words: because in God’s
pontiff, and particularly in the priest of so great a church, the sound
of the tongue and the utterance of the lips is not enough, and nothing
is of avail, if God makes proclamation with
His voice and the mind is convicted of blasphemy. For of such the
Holy Ghost speaks by the Apostle, “having an appearance of
godliness, but denying the power thereof,” and again elsewhere,
“they profess that they know God, but in
deeds they deny Him
III. Timothy’s request for indulgence on the score of orthodoxy must not be allowed.
Nor need we now state all that makes Timothy
accursed, since what has been done through him and on his account, has
abundantly and conspicuously come to the knowledge of the whole world,
and whatever has been perpetrated by an unruly mob against justice, all
rests on his head, whose wishes were served by its mad hands. And
hence, even if in his profession of faith he neglects nothing, and
deceives us in nothing, it best consorts with your glory absolutely to
exclude him from this design of his Apparently to be
allowed to reside in Constantinople (or perhaps at this stage to remain
in Alexandria). See Lett. CLXII. n.
2a.
Letter CLXX.
To Gennadius, Bishop of
Constantinople He had succeeded
to the see on the death of Anatolius in 458.
(Complaining of Timothy Ælurus having been allowed to come to Constantinople, and saying that there is no hope of his restitution.)
Letter CLXXI.
To Timothy, Bishop of Alexandria.
Leo, the bishop, to Timothy, catholic bishop of the church of Alexandria.
I. He congratulates him on his election, and bids him win back wanderers to the fold.
It is clearly apparent from the brightness of the
sentiment quoted by the Apostle, that “all things work together
for good to them that love God
II. Let him be watchful against heresy and send frequent reports to Rome.
Take heed, then, dearly beloved brother, lest any
trace of either Nestorius’ or Eutyches’ error be found in
God’s people: because “no
one can lay any foundation except that which is laid, which is Christ
Jesus Per fidei
regenerationem omnes in nostræ carnis veritate
susciperet. The doctrine of the Atonement in the light of the
Incarnation is here expressed in a rather unusual way, and I have
therefore translated the expression as literally as possible.
Letter CLXXII.
To the Presbyters and Deacons of the Church of Alexandria.
(Inviting them to aid in confirming the peace of the Church, and in winning those who had given way to heresy.)
Letter CLXXIII.
To Certain Egyptian Bishops.
(Congratulating them on the election of Timothy, and begging them to assist in maintaining unity and bringing back wanderers to the fold.)
————————————
Sermon I.
Preached on his Birthday Natalis seems
to have been applied to the day or anniversary of a Bishop’s
consecration as well as to the festivals of Martyrs in the
Calendar. Cf. Serm. IV. chap. 4, illi ergo hunc servitutis
nostræ natalitium diem ascribamus. One reason for the
shortness of this sermon, which used to be joined with Sermon II. (a
few necessary alterations in the text of the latter being made) is, I
think, rightly given by the Ballerinii: “perhaps”
they say, “the unusual length of the ceremonies that day did not
allow of a longer sermon.”
Having been elected in absence Viz. on his mission
of reconciling Ætius and Albinus the Roman generals in Gaul:
see Introduction.
“Let my mouth speak
the praise of the Lord Especially of
course in the Holy Eucharist. S. The words of S. Paul
to the Thessalonians (
Sermon II.
On his Birthday, II.: Delivered
on the Anniversary This sermon,
which in the older editions used to be joined in one with the first,
was separated by the Ballerinii and assigned to the (1st?) anniversary
of his pontifical consecration. Quesnel, who did not go so far as
to separate the two parts, saw that there were certain expressions in
the first portion which did not suit the common title given to the
whole in anniversario die assumptionis eius, proposed to alter
it to in octava consecrationis eius (on the octave,
&c.). I have adhered to the Ball.’s division, though I
am not entirely convinced by their arguments.
I. The Lord raises up the weak and gives him grace according to his need.
The Divine condescension has made this an
honourable day for me, for it has shown by raising Provexit
unwillingly altered by the Ball. from provehit, against
all the mss., to suit their view. Oneris, others
honoris (advancement). Ipse est,
others (including Quesnel) ipse mihi fiet (future).
II. The mighty assemblage of prelates testifies to men’s loyal acceptance of Peter in Peter’s unworthy successor.
Therefore, dearly-beloved, “magnify the
Lord with me and let us exalt His name
together The Ball. quote from
several more or less contemporary authorities to prove that this
concourse is more likely to have been on the anniversary than on the
day of consecration itself and they say that such a celebration of the
octave as Quesnel suggests is unknown to all antiquity.
Sermon III.
On His Birthday, III: Delivered on the Anniversary of his Elevation to the Pontificate.
I. The honour of being raised to the episcopate must be referred solely to the Divine Head of the Church.
As often as God’s
mercy deigns to bring round the day of His gifts to us, there is,
dearly-beloved, just and reasonable cause for rejoicing, if only our
appointment to the office be referred to the praise of Him who gave
it. For though this recognition of God
may well be found in all His priests, yet I take it to be peculiarly
binding on me, who, regarding my own utter insignificance and the
greatness of the office undertaken, ought myself also to utter that
exclamation of the Prophet, “Lord, I
heard Thy speech and was afraid: I considered Thy works and was
dismayed Quesnel is no doubt
correct in taking this literally as alluding to the anointing of
bishops at consecration: cf. Serm. IV. chap. 1.
Sancti Spiritus unctio consecrat sacerdotes, and lower
down he speaks of the effusum benedictionis unguentum: so
also in Serm. LIX. chap. 7, sacratior est unctio sacerdotum.
Although, therefore, dearly beloved, we be found
both weak and slothful in fulfilling the duties of our office, because,
whatever devoted and vigorous action we desire to do, we are hindered
by the frailty of our very condition; yet having the unceasing
propitiation of the Almighty and perpetual Priest, who being like us
and yet equal with the Father, brought down His Godhead even to things
human, and raised His Manhood even to things Divine, we worthily and
piously rejoice over His dispensation, whereby, though He has delegated
the care of His sheep to many shepherds, yet He has not Himself
abandoned the guardianship of His beloved flock. And from His
overruling and eternal protection we have received the support of the
Apostles’ aid also, which assuredly does not cease from its
operation: and the strength of the foundation, on which the whole
superstructure of the Church is reared, is not weakened We read
lassescit with Hurter, instead of the unintelligible
lacessitof the mss. By the evangelica
lectio is meant the Gospel for the day, just as, for instance, in
Sermon XXXIII. chap. 1, &c. S.
III. S. Peter’s work is still carried out by his successors.
The dispensation of Truth therefore abides, and the blessed Peter persevering in the strength of the Rock, which he has received, has not abandoned the helm of the Church, which he undertook. For he was ordained before the rest in such a way that from his being called the Rock, from his being pronounced the Foundation, from his being constituted the Doorkeeper of the kingdom of heaven, from his being set as the Umpire to bind and to loose, whose judgments shall retain their validity in heaven, from all these mystical titles we might know the nature of his association with Christ. And still to-day he more fully and effectually performs what is entrusted to him, and carries out every part of his duty and charge in Him and with Him, through Whom he has been glorified. And so if anything is rightly done and rightly decreed by us, if anything is won from the mercy of God by our daily supplications, it is of his work and merits whose power lives and whose authority prevails in his See. For this, dearly-beloved, was gained by that confession, which, inspired in the Apostle’s heart by God the Father, transcended all the uncertainty of human opinions, and was endued with the firmness of a rock, which no assaults could shake. For throughout the Church Peter daily says, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,” and every tongue which confesses the Lord, accepts the instruction his voice conveys. This Faith conquers the devil, and breaks the bonds of his prisoners. It uproots us from this earth and plants us in heaven, and the gates of Hades cannot prevail against it. For with such solidity is it endued by God that the depravity of heretics cannot mar it nor the unbelief of the heathen overcome it.
IV. This festival then is in S. Peter’s honour, and the progress of his flock redounds to his glory.
And so, dearly beloved, with reasonable obedience we
celebrate to-day’s festival by such methods, that in my humble
person he may be recognized and honoured, in whom abides the care of
all the shepherds, together with the charge of the sheep commended to
him, and whose dignity is not abated even in so unworthy an heir.
And hence the presence of my venerable brothers and fellow-priests, so
much desired and valued by me, will be the more sacred and precious, if
they will transfer the chief honour of this service in which they have
deigned to take part to him whom they know to be not only the patron of
this see, but also the primate of all bishops. When therefore we
utter our exhortations in your ears, holy brethren, believe that he is
speaking whose representative we are: because it is his warning
that we give, nothing else but his teaching that we preach, beseeching
you to “gird up the loins of your
Sermon IX.
Upon the Collections The Ballerinii in an
excellent note have shown that the series of six Sermons de
Collectis were delivered in connexion with the annual Collections
then in vogue at Rome for the sick and poor of the seven city
regions. These collections seem to have been continued for
several consecutive days (cf. Serm. VI. primus collectarum dies,
and Serm. X. chap. 4), and probably began on the 6th of July (the
octave of SS. Peter and Paul), the day on which in pagan times the
Ludi Apollinares had also begun: this date being
designedly chosen, as Leo himself says (Serm. VIII.), ad destruendas
antiqui hostis insidias in die quo impii sub idolorum suorum nomine
diabolo serviebant: cf. what he says also in the first and
third chapter of this Sermon (IX.).
I. The devil’s wickedness in leading men astray is now counteracted by the work of redemption in restoring them to the truth.
God’s mercy and
justice, dearly-beloved, has in loving-kindness disclosed to us through
our Lord Jesus Christ’s teaching, the
manner of His retributions, as they have been ordained from the
foundation of the world, that accepting the significance of facts we
might take what we believe will happen, to have, as it were, already
come to pass. For our Redeemer and Saviour knew what great errors
the devil’s deceit had dispersed throughout the world and by how
many superstitions he had subjected the chief part of mankind to
himself. But that the creature formed in God’s image might not any longer through ignorance
of the Truth be driven on to the precipice of perpetual death, He
inserted in the Gospel-pages the nature of His judgment that it might
recover every man from the snares of the crafty foe; for now all would
know what rewards the good might hope for and what punishments the evil
must fear. For the instigator and author of sin in order first to
fall through pride and then to injure us through envy, because
“he stood not in the Truth S.
II. God’s just judgment against sin is denounced that we may avoid it by deeds of mercy and love.
On account therefore, dearly-beloved, of these
crafty designs of our ancient foe, the unspeakable goodness of Christ
has wished us to know, what was to be decreed about all mankind in the
day of retribution, that, while in this life healing remedies are
legitimately offered, while restoration is not denied to the contrite,
and those who have been long barren can at length be fruitful, the
verdict on which justice has determined may be fore-stalled and the
picture of God’s coming to judge the
world never depart from the mind’s eye. For the
Lord will come in His glorious Majesty, as He
Himself has foretold, and there will be with Him an innumerable host of
angel-legions radiant in their splendour. Before the throne of
His power will all the nations of the world be gathered; and all the
men that in all ages and on all the face of the earth have been born,
shall stand in the Judge’s sight. Then shall be separated
the just from the unjust, the guiltless from the
III. We minister to Christ Himself in the person of his poor.
To this pious duty of good works, therefore dearly
beloved, the day of Apostolic institution Dies
apostolicæ institutionis: this was, as note 6 explains,
the octave of SS. Peter and Paul, but how far Leo actually attributes
its institution to the Apostles themselves, is a little doubtful.
In the next clause here he speaks of the Collection as a patribus
ordinata (so too in Serm. VII. dies saluberime a sanctis
patribus institutus, and Serm. XI. chap. 2: cf. Serm. X.
chap. 1, auctoritatem patrum); whereas in Sermon VIII. the day
is said to be apostolicis traditionibus institutis, and in Serm.
XI. chap. 1, apostolicis didicimus institutis, and
strongest of all the opening words of Serm. X. chap. 1,
apostolicæ traditionis instituta servantes ut diem quem illi ab
impiorum consuetudine purgatum misericordiæ operibus consecrarunt
celebremus. Patres however often includes
apostoli, e.g. Serm. LXXIII. chap. 1, gratias
agamus.…sanctorum patrum necessariæ tarditati, where
patrum = apostoli aliique discipuli. The fact is,
as Bright points out upon a similar matter (the origin of Lent), Leo
“would be prone to make that claim for any institute of his own
church (see Bingham xxi. 1, 8.)” (n. 103.). On Serm. LXXIX.
1 the Ball. appropriately quote a dictum of S. Augustine’s that
what the universal Church had always held is correctly credited with
the authority of the Apostles. Regionum,
viz. the seven regions into which Rome was then divided: see n.
6, above. The Ball.
wish to alter this to Thursday (against mss.)
to suit their calculations, by which as the detection of
Manichæism at Rome, mentioned in chap. iv., occurred after the 6th
of July, 443, this sermon must have been delivered in 444.
IV. To complete their acceptance by God, they must not neglect to lay all information against the Manichees who are in the city.
But in order that your devotion, dearly beloved,
may in all things be pleasing to God, we
exhort you also to show due zeal in informing your presbyters of
Manichees where
Cf. Lett. VII. and
VIII.
Sermon X.
On the Collections, V.
I. Our goods are given us not as our own possessions but for use in God’s service.
Observing the institutions of the Apostles’
tradition, dearly beloved, we exhort you, as watchful shepherds, to
celebrate with the devotion of religious practice that day which
they See Serm. IX. n. 6,
and chap. iii. n. 8. i.e. apparently to
do as you would be done by.
II. The liberal use of riches is worse than vain, if it be for selfish ends alone.
And, however praiseworthy it be to flee from intemperance, and to avoid the waste of base pleasures, and though many in their magnificence disdain to conceal their wealth, and in the abundance of their goods think scorn of mean and sordid parsimony, yet such men’s liberality is not happy, nor their thriftiness to be commended, if their riches are of benefit to themselves alone; if no poor folks are helped by their goods, no sick persons nourished; if out of the abundance of their great possessions the captive gets not ransom, nor the stranger comfort, nor the exile relief. Rich men of this kind are needier than all the needy. For they lose those returns which they might have for ever, and while they gloat over the brief and not always free enjoyment of what they possess, they are not fed upon the bread of justice nor the sweets of mercy: outwardly splendid, they have no light within: of things temporal they have abundance, but utter lack of things eternal: for they inflict starvation on their own souls, and bring them to shame and nakedness by spending upon heavenly treasures none of these things which they put into their earthly storehouses.
III. The duty of mercy outweighs all other virtues.
But, perhaps there are some rich people, who,
although they are not wont to help the Church’s poor by bounteous
gifts, yet keep other commands of God, and
among their
S.
IV. And its efficacy, as Scripture proves, is incalculable.
Let no one therefore, dearly beloved, flatter
himself on any merits of a good life, if works of charity be wanting in
him, and let him not trust in the purity of his body, if he be not
cleansed by the purification of almsgiving. For “almsgiving
wipes out sin
Sermon XII.
On the Fast of The Tenth Month,
I. That is the
December or, as we should now call it, the Advent Embertide. Cf.
Serm. XIX. chap. 2, where the four seasons, as arranged in Leo’s
day, are clearly set forth.
I. Restoration to the Divine image in which we were made is only possible by our imitation of God’s will.
If, dearly beloved, we comprehend faithfully and
wisely the beginning of our creation, we shall find that man was made
in God’s image, to the end that he might
imitate his Creator, and that our race attains its highest natural
dignity, by the form of the Divine goodness being reflected in us, as
in a mirror. And assuredly to this form the Saviour’s grace
is daily restoring us, so long as that which, in the
II. We must love both God and our neighbour, and “our neighbour” must be interpreted in its widest sense.
And so, when the Lord
says, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God, from all thy heart and from all thy
mind: and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself S.
Despectat: others desperat (despairs of).
III. We must be thankful, and show our thankfulness for what we have received, whether much or little.
Accordingly, as God
wishes us to be good, because He is good, none of His judgments ought
to displease us. For not to give Him thanks in all things, what
else is it but to blame Him in some degree. Man’s folly too
often dares to murmur against his Creator, not only in time of want,
but also in time of plenty, so that, when something is not supplied, he
complains, and when certain things are in abundance he is
ungrateful. The lord of rich harvests thought scorn of his
well-filled garners, and groaned over his abundant
grape-gathering: he did not give thanks for the size of the crop,
but complained of its poorness Viz. in S.
IV. Prayer, fasting and almsgiving are the three comprehensive duties of a Christian.
But there are three things which most belong to religious actions, namely prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, in the exercising of which while every time is accepted, yet that ought to be more zealously observed, which we have received as hallowed by tradition from the apostles: even as this tenth month brings round again to us the opportunity when according to the ancient practice we may give more diligent heed to those three things of which I have spoken. For by prayer we seek to propitiate God, by fasting we extinguish the lusts of the flesh, by alms we redeem our sins: and at the same time God’s image is throughout renewed in us, if we are always ready to praise Him, unfailingly intent on our purification and unceasingly active in cherishing our neighbour. This threefold round of duty, dearly beloved, brings all other virtues into action: it attains to God’s image and likeness and unites us inseparably with the Holy Spirit. Because in prayer faith remains stedfast, in fastings life remains innocent, in almsgiving the mind remains kind. On Wednesday and Friday therefore let us fast: and on Saturday let us keep vigil with the most blessed Apostle Peter, who will deign to aid our supplications and fast and alms with his own prayers through our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Ghost lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.
Sermon XVI.
On the Fast of the Tenth Month.
I. The prosperous must show forth their thankfulness to God, by liberality to the poor and needy.
The transcendent power of God’s grace, dearly beloved, is indeed daily
effecting in Christian hearts the transference of our every desire from
earthly to heavenly things. But this present life also is passed
through the Creator’s aid and sustained by His providence,
because He who promises things eternal is also the Supplier of things
temporal. As therefore we ought to give God thanks for the hope of future happiness towards which
we run by faith, because He raises us up to a perception of the
happiness in store for us, so for those things also which we receive in
the course of every year, God should be
honoured and praised, who having from the beginning given fertility to
the earth and laid down laws of bearing fruit for every germ and seed,
will never forsake his own decrees but will as Creator ever continue
His kind administration of the things that He has made. Whatever
therefore the cornfields, the vineyards and the olive groves have borne
for man’s purposes, all this God in His
bounteous goodness has produced: for under the varying condition
of the elements He has mercifully aided the uncertain toils of the
husbandmen so that wind, and rain, cold and heat, day and night might
serve our needs. For men’s methods would not have sufficed
to give effect to their works, had not God
given the increase to their wonted plantings and waterings. And
hence it is but godly and just that we too should help others with that
which the Heavenly Father has mercifully bestowed on us. For
there are full many, who have no fields, no vineyards, no olive-groves,
whose wants we must provide out of the store which God has given, that they too with us may bless
God for the richness of the earth and rejoice
at its possessors having received things which they have shared also
with the poor and the stranger. That garner
II. Almsgiving and fasting are the most essential aids to prayer.
And while all seasons are opportune for this duty,
beloved, yet this present season is specially suitable and appropriate,
at which our holy fathers, being Divinely inspired, sanctioned the Fast
of the tenth month, that when all the ingathering of the crops was
complete, we might dedicate to God our
reasonable service of abstinence, and each might remember so to use his
abundance as to be more abstinent in himself and more open-handed
towards the poor. For forgiveness of sins is most efficaciously
prayed for with almsgiving and fasting, and supplications that are
winged by such aids mount swiftly to God’s ears: since as it is written, “the
merciful man doeth good to his own soul S.
III. Christians’ pious activity has so enraged Satan that he has multiplied heresies to wreak them harm.
But at all these acts of godliness,
dearly-beloved, which commend us more and more to God, there is no doubt that our enemy, who is so eager and
so skilled in harming us, is aroused with keener stings of hatred, that
under a false profession of the Christian name he may corrupt those
whom he is not allowed to attack with open and bloody persecutions, and
for this work he has heretics in his service whom he has led astray
from the catholic Faith, subjected to himself, and forced under divers
errors to serve in his camp. And as for the deception of
primitive man he used the services of a serpent, so to mislead the
minds of the upright he has armed these men’s tongues with the
poison of his falsehoods. But these treacherous designs, dearly
beloved, with a shepherd’s care, and so far as the Lord vouchsafes His aid, we will defeat. And taking
heed lest any of the holy flock should perish, we admonish you with
fatherly warnings to keep aloof from the “lying lips” and
the “deceitful tongue” from which the prophet asks that his
soul should be delivered S.
IV. Of all heresies Manicheism is the worst and foullest.
But while he retains this ever-varying supremacy
over all the heresies, yet he has built his citadel upon the madness of
the Manichees, and found in them the most spacious court in which to
strut and boast himself: for there he possesses not one form of
misbelief only, but a general compound of all errors and
ungodlinesses. For all that is idolatrous in the heathen, all
that is blind in carnal Jews, all that is unlawful in the secrets of
the magic art, all finally that is profane and blasphemous in all the
heresies is gathered together with all manner of filth in these men as
if in a cesspool Strong as this language
undoubtedly is, it is perhaps almost justifiable, if the story which he
proceeds to indicate is not only true but characteristic of the
sect. Exsecramentum,
cf. Serm. LXXV. chap 7, ad illa non sacra sed exsecramenta
perveniunt, quæ propter communem verecundiam non sunt nostro
sermone promenda.
V. Every one should abjure such men, and give all the information they possess about them to the authorities.
And so, dearly beloved, renounce all friendship
with these men who are utterly abominable and pestilential, and whom
disturbances in other districts have brought in great numbers to the
city The Ball. quote Aug.
(Conf. v. chap. 10) to show that Rome had long ago been infested with
Manichees. They identify the disturbances Leo here speaks of with
Genseric’s invasion of Africa and occupation of Carthage in
438. For a like
injunction, cf. Serm. X., chap. 4, where the presbyters are to be
told.
VI. Zeal in rooting out heresy will make other pious duties more acceptable.
Display then a holy zeal of religious vigilance, and let all the faithful rise in one body against these savage enemies of their souls. For the merciful God has delivered a certain portion of our noxious foes into our hands in order that by revelation of the danger the utmost caution might be aroused. Let not what has been done suffice, but let us persevere in searching them out: and by God’s aid the result will be not only the continuance in safety of those who still stand, but also the recovery from error of many who have been deceived by the devil’s seduction. And the prayers, and alms, and fasts that you offer to the merciful God shall be the holier for this very devotion, when this deed of faith also is added to all your other godly duties. On Wednesday and Friday, therefore, let us fast, and on Saturday let us keep vigil in the presence of the most blessed Apostle Peter; who, as we experience and know, watches unceasingly like a shepherd over the sheep entrusted to him by the Lord, and who will prevail in his entreaties that the Church of God, which was founded by his preaching, may be free from all error, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Sermon XVII.
On the Fast of the Tenth Month, VI.
I. The duty of fasting is based on both the Old and New Testaments, and is closely connected with the duties of prayer and almsgiving.
The teaching of the Law, dearly beloved, imparts
great authority to the precepts of the Gospel, seeing that certain
things are transferred from the old ordinances to the new, and by the
very devotions of the Church it is shown that the Lord Jesus Christ “came not
S. S. S.
Humanitas: one ms.
reads humilitas (man’s humility), but
humanitas occurs again in chap. iii. lucrum quod omni caret
humanitate.
II. He that lends to the Lord makes a better bargain than he that lends to man.
Be stedfast, Christian giver: give what you
may receive, sow what you may reap, scatter what you may gather.
Fear not to spend, sigh not over the doubtfulness of the gain.
Your substance grows when it is wisely dispensed. Set your heart
on the profits due to mercy, and traffic in eternal gains. Your
Recompenser wishes you to be munificent, and He who gives that you may
have, commands you to spend, saying, “Give, and it shall be given
to you.” You must thankfully embrace the conditions of this
promise. For although you have nothing that you did not receive,
yet you cannot fail to have what you give. He therefore that
loves money, and wishes to multiply his wealth by immoderate profits,
should rather practise this holy usury and grow rich by such
money-lending, in order not to catch men hampered with difficulties,
and by treacherous assistance entangle them in debts which they can
never pay, but to be His creditor and His money-lender, who says,
“Give, and it shall be given to you,” and “with what
measure ye measure, it shall be measured again to you S. Fide iussor one
of Leo’s legal terms.
III. Money-lending at high interest is in all respects iniquitous.
And hence, whatever result follow, the
money-lender’s trade is always bad, for it is sin either to
lessen or increase the sum, in that if he lose what he lent he is
wretched, and if he takes more than he lent he is more wretched
still. The iniquity of money-lending must absolutely be abjured,
and the gain which lacks all humanity must be shunned. A
man’s possessions are indeed multiplied by these unrighteous and
sorry means, but the mind’s wealth decays because usury of money
is the death of the soul Fœnus
pecuniæ funus est animæ, the epigrammatic play on words
will not escape notice.
IV. Let us avoid avarice, and share God’s benefits with others.
And so, dearly beloved, do ye who with the whole heart have put your trust in the Lord’s promises, flee from this unclean leprosy of avarice, and use God’s gift piously and wisely. And since you rejoice in His bounty, take heed that you have those who may share in your joys. For many lack what you have in plenty, and some men’s needs afford you opportunity for imitating the Divine goodness, so that through you the Divine benefits may be transferred to others also, and that by being wise stewards of your temporal goods, you may acquire eternal riches. On Wednesday and Friday next, therefore, let us fast, and on Saturday keep vigil with the most blessed Apostle Peter, by whose prayers we may in all things obtain the Divine protection through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Sermon XIX.
On the Fast of the Ten Month, VIII.
I. Self-restraint leads to higher enjoyments.
When the Saviour would instruct His disciples
about the Advent of God’s Kingdom and
the end of the world’s times, and teach His whole Church, in the
person of the Apostles, He said, “Take heed lest haply your
hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and care of this
life S.
II. The teaching of the four yearly fasts is that spiritual self-restraint is as necessary as corporeal.
This profitable observance, dearly beloved, is
especially laid down for the fasts of the Church, which, in accordance
with the Holy Spirit’s teaching, are so distributed over the
whole year that the law of abstinence may be kept before us at all
times. Accordingly we keep the spring fast in Lent, the summer
fast at Whitsuntide, the autumn fast in the seventh month, and the
winter fast in this which is the tenth month, knowing that there is
nothing unconnected with the Divine commands, and that all the elements
serve the Word of God to our instruction, so
that from the very hinges on which the world turns, as if by four
gospels we learn unceasingly what to preach and what to do. For,
when the prophet says, “The heavens declare the glory of
God, and the firmament showeth His
handiwork: day unto day uttereth speech, and night showeth
knowledge Cf.
III. Thus fasting in mind as well as body, and giving alms freely, we shall win God’s highest favour.
Let us remember that we owe love first to
God, secondly to our neighbour, and that all
our affections must be so regulated as not to draw us away from the
worship of God, or the benefiting our fellow
slave. But how shall we worship God
unless that which is pleasing to Him is also pleasing to us? For,
if our will is His will, our weakness will receive strength from Him,
from Whom the very will came; “for it is God,” as the Apostle says, “who worketh in us
both to will and to do for (His) good pleasure
Sermon XXI.
On the Feast of the Nativity, I.
I. All share in the joy of Christmas.
Our Saviour, dearly-beloved, was born today:
let us be glad. For there is no proper place for sadness, when we
keep the birthday of the Life, which destroys the fear of mortality and
brings to us the joy of promised eternity. No one is kept from
sharing in this happiness. There is for all one common measure of
joy, because as our Lord the destroyer of sin
and death finds none free from charge, so is He come to free us
all. Let the saint exult in that he draws near to victory.
Let the sinner be glad in that he is invited to pardon. Let the
gentile take courage in that he is called to life. For the Son of
God in the fulness of time which the
inscrutable depth of the Divine counsel has determined, has taken on
him the nature of man, thereby to reconcile it to its Author: in
order that the inventor of death, the devil, might be conquered through
that (nature) which he had conquered. And in this conflict
undertaken for us, the fight was fought on great and wondrous
principles of fairness; for the Almighty Lord
enters the lists with His savage foe not in His own majesty but in our
humility, opposing him with the same form and the same nature, which
shares indeed our mortality, though it is free from all sin.
Truly foreign to this nativity is that which we read of all others,
“no one is clean from stain, not even the infant who has lived
but one day upon earth
Effectus: the older editions read affatus (sc. the
utterances of the angel). Dei genetrix
(θεοτόκος):
in opposing Eutyches, Leo is careful not to fall into
Nestorianism. Bright’s note 3 should be read on this
passage, and esp. his quotation from Bp. Pearson (note 2 on Art. 3)
absit ut quisquam S. Mariam Divinæ gratiæ privilegiis et
speciali gloria fraudare conetur.
II. The mystery of the Incarnation is a fitting theme for joy both to angels and to men.
Therefore the Word of God, Himself God, the Son of
God who “in the beginning was with
God,” through whom “all things
were made” and “without” whom “was nothing
made S.
“Without-other” repeated in almost the same words in Letter
XXVIII. chap. 3.
“Without-other” repeated in almost the same words in Letter
XXVIII. chap. 3.
Rightly therefore did the birth of our Salvation
impart no corruption to the Virgin’s purity, because the bearing
of the Truth was the keeping of honour. Such then beloved was the
nativity which became the Power of God and the
Wisdom of God even Christ, whereby He might be
one with us in manhood and surpass us in Godhead. For unless He
were true God, He would not bring us a remedy,
unless He were true Man, He would not give us an example.
Therefore the exulting angel’s song when the Lord was born is this, “Glory to God in the Highest,” and their message, “peace
on earth to men of good will S.
III. Christians then must live worthily of Christ their Head.
Let us then, dearly beloved, give thanks to
God the Father, through His Son, in the Holy
Spirit Bingham observes (b.
xiv. c. 2, s. 1), that Leo here uses, though in a catholic sense, that
form of doxology which had become associated with Arianism. He
could well afford to do as S. Athanasius had done, who ascribes glory
to the Father “through the Son” at the conclusion of four
treatises. Bright.
Sermon XXII.
On the Feast of the Nativity, II.
I. The mystery of the Incarnation demands our joy.
Let us be glad in the Lord, dearly-beloved, and rejoice with spiritual joy that
there has dawned for us the day of ever-new redemption, of ancient
preparation
Præparationis (viz. the day to which prophecies and types
were leading up): another reading is reparationis
(restoration), which is less apposite.
Sacramentum. Erectis sursum
cordibus, the phrase reminds us of the Eucharistic V. sursum
corda R. habemus ad Dominum. From
“Thus” to the end of the chapter is repeated in Lett.
XXVIII. (Tome), chap. 3. From
“Thus” to the end of the chapter is repeated in Lett.
XXVIII. (Tome), chap. 3.
II. The new character of the birth of Christ explained.
Therefore, when the time came, dearly beloved,
which had been fore-ordained for men’s redemption From “there
enters” to “death” is repeated in Lett. XXVIII.
(Tome), chap 4. From “there
enters” to “death” is repeated in Lett. XXVIII.
(Tome), chap 4. S. For the impeccability
of Christ involved in this statement, cf. Serm. LXIV. chap. 2, and
Lett. XXVIII. (Tome) chap. 3, and especially Bright’s note 15 (to
Sermon XXIII. chap. 2).
III. Justice required that Satan should be vanquished by God made man.
And, dearly beloved, this very fact that Christ
chose to be born of a Virgin does it not appear to be part of the
deepest design? I mean, that the devil should not be aware that
Salvation had been born for the human race, and through the obscurity
of that spiritual conception, when he saw Him no different to others,
should believe Him born in no different way to others. For when
he observed that His nature was like that of all others, he thought
that He had the same origin as all had: and did not understand
that He was free from the bonds of transgression because he did not
find Him a stranger to the weakness of mortality. For though the
true Verax,
literally truth speaking, and so genuine, sincere, &c. This sentence is
found also in Lett. XXVIII. (Tome), chap. 3; but here instead of de
matre Domini, natura there is a variant reading, de matre,
hominis natura.
IV. The Incarnation deceived the Devil and caused him to break the bond under which he held men.
When, therefore, the merciful and almighty Saviour
so arranged the commencement of His human course as to hide the power
of His Godhead which was inseparable from His manhood under the veil of
our weakness, the crafty foe was taken off his guard and he thought
that the nativity of the Child, Who was born for the salvation of
mankind, was as much subject to himself as all others are at their
birth. For he saw Him crying and weeping, he saw Him wrapped in
swaddling clothes, subjected to circumcision, offering the sacrifice
which the law required. And then he perceived in Him the usual
growth of boyhood, and could have had no doubt of His reaching
man’s estate by natural steps. Meanwhile, he inflicted
insults, multiplied injuries, made use of curses, affronts,
blasphemies, abuse, in a word, poured upon Him all the force of his
fury and exhausted all the varieties of trial: and knowing how he
had poisoned man’s nature, had no conception that He had no share
in the first transgression Whose mortality he had ascertained by so
many proofs. The unscrupulous thief and greedy robber persisted
in assaulting Him Who had nothing of His own, and in carrying out the
general sentence on original sin, went beyond the bond on which he
rested Dum vitiatæ
originis præiudicium generale persequitur, chirographum quo
nitebatur excedit. Cf. Captivitatis vasa
rapiuntur: the passage in the writer’s mind is S.
V. The Christian is exhorted to share in the blessings of the Incarnation.
Whoever then thou art that devoutly and faithfully
boastest of the Christian name, estimate this atonement at its right
worth. For to thee who wast a castaway, banished from the realms
of paradise, dying of thy weary exile, reduced to dust and ashes,
without further hope of living, by the Incarnation of the Word was
given the power to return from afar to thy Maker, to recognize thy
parentage, to become free after slavery, to be promoted from being an
outcast to sonship: so that, thou who wast born of corruptible
flesh, mayest be reborn by the Spirit of God,
and obtain through grace what thou hadst not by nature, and, if thou
acknowledge thyself the son of God by the
spirit of adoption, dare to call God
Father. Freed from the accusings of a bad conscience, aspire to
the kingdom of heaven, do God’s will
supported by the Divine help, imitate the angels upon earth, feed on
the strength of immortal sustenance, fight fearlessly on the side of
piety against hostile temptations, and if thou keep thy
allegiance Si cælestis
militiæ sacramenta servaveris: here we have a return to
the earlier classical meaning of sacramentum.
VI. The festival has nothing to do with sun-worship, as some maintain.
Having therefore so confident a hope, dearly beloved,
abide firm in the Faith in which you are built: lest that same
tempter whose
Such an idea is no
doubt to be referred to the Manichæans.
Sermon XXIII.
On the Feast of the Nativity, III.
I. The truths of the Incarnation never suffer from being repeated.
The things which are connected with the
mystery Sacramentum
(as usual). I would venture to urge that Bright is hardly
justified in interpreting this as “sacred observance” here,
unless I have misunderstood his note 8. Surely Leo means, the
facts and details and consequences arising from the mystery of the
Incarnation are well known to you. This agrees better with the
context and is in accordance with his common use of the word. S. Vere humanum vereque
aivinam unam edidit prole personam.
Misceretur: Quesnel truly remarks that the fathers
“securius locuti sunt nondum litigantibus Eutychianis post
cuius hæresis ortum cautim—locutus est Leo.”
That no “fusion” of the natures is really implied Bright
(note 11) clearly shows.
II. The Arians could not comprehend the union of God and man.
This union, dearly beloved, whereby the Creator is
joined to the creature, Arian blindness could not see with the eyes of
intelligence, but, not believing that the Only-begotten of God was of the same glory and substance with the Father,
spoke of the Son’s Godhead as inferior, drawing its arguments
from those
S. S. From
“accordingly” to “form of God” occurs again in Lett. XXVIII. (Tome) chap.
3. From
“accordingly” to “form of God” occurs again in Lett. XXVIII. (Tome) chap.
3. Several times in
this chapter and elsewhere in Leo the language reminds us forcibly of
the Quicunque “which,” says Bright (note 14),
“whatever be its date, was clearly compiled by some one
accustomed to the theological terminology of the Latin church of the
fifth century.” From here to end of
chapter occurs again in Lett. XXVIII. (Tome) chap. 3.
III. The Incarnation was necessary to the taking away of sin.
In order therefore that we might be called to
eternal bliss from our original bond and from earthly errors, He came
down Himself to us to Whom we could not ascend, because, although there
was in many the love of truth, yet the variety of our shifting opinions
was deceived by the craft of misleading demons, and man’s
ignorance was dragged into diverse and conflicting notions by a
falsely-called science. But to remove this mockery, whereby
men’s minds were taken captive to serve the arrogant devil, the
teaching of the Law was not sufficient, nor could our nature be
restored merely by the Prophets’ exhortations; but the reality of
redemption had to be added to moral injunctions, and our fundamentally
corrupt origin had to be re-born afresh. A Victim had to be
offered for our atonement Who should be both a partner of our race and
free from our contamination, so that this design of God whereby it pleased Him to take away the sin of the
world in the Nativity and Passion of Jesus Christ, might reach to all
generations From what he
goes on to say in the next chapter, is clear that Leo meant that both
past and future generations of mankind shared in the
benefits of the Incarnation: cf. Bright’s note
16.
IV. The blessings of the Incarnation stretch backwards as well as reach forward.
Accordingly let those men cease their complaints
who with disloyal murmurs speak against the dispensations of
God, and babble about the lateness of the
Lord’s Nativity as if that, which was
fulfilled in the last age of the world, had no bearing upon the times
that are past. For the Incarnation of the Word did but contribute
to the doing of that which was done Hoc contulit
faciendum quod factum, i.e. the Incarnation was but a part (though
an essential part) in the Divine scheme of redemption, and, as he goes
on to show, could not have occurred sooner than it did occur: for
it would have marred the sequence of the whole design: cf.
Bright’s note 17: also S.
V. The coming of Christ in our flesh corresponds with our becoming members of His body.
Wherefore since the loving-kindness is manifest,
dearly beloved, wherewith all the riches of Divine goodness are
showered on us, whose call to eternal life has been assisted not only
by the profitable examples of those who went before, but also by the
visible and bodily appearing of the Truth Itself, we are bound to keep
the day of the Lord’s Nativity with no
slothful nor carnal joy. And we shall each keep it worthily and
thoroughly, if we remember of what Body we are members, and to what a
Head we are joined, lest any one as an ill-fitting joint cohere not
with the rest of the sacred building. Consider, dearly beloved
and by the illumination of the Holy Spirit thoughtfully bear in mind
Who it was that received us into Himself, and that we have received in
us: since, as the Lord Jesus became our
flesh by being born, so we also became His body by being re-born.
Therefore are we both members of Christ, and the temple of the Holy
Ghost: and for this reason the blessed Apostle says,
“Glorify and carry God in your
body S.
Sermon XXIV.
On the Feast of the Nativity, IV.
I. The Incarnation fulfils all its types and promises.
The Divine goodness, dearly beloved, has indeed
always taken thought for mankind in divers manners, and in many
portions, and of His mercy has imparted many gifts of His providence to
the ages of old; but in these last times has exceeded all the abundance
of His usual kindness, when in Christ the very Mercy has descended to
sinners, the very Truth to those that are astray, the very Life to
those that are dead: so that Word, which is co-eternal and
co-equal with the Father, might take our humble nature into union with
His Godhead, and, being born God of
God, might also be born Man of man. This
was indeed promised from the foundation of the world, and had always
been prophesied by many intimations of facts and words Cf. Serm. XXIII.,
chap. 4. Instrumentis
(lit. materials, stock-in-trade).
II. The Incarnation was the only effective remedy to the fall.
Let the righteous then rejoice in the Lord, and let the hearts of believers turn to God’s praise, and the sons of men confess His
wondrous acts; since in this work of God
especially our humble estate realizes how highly its Maker values
it: in that, after His great gift to mankind in making us after
His image, He contributed far more largely to our restoration when the
Lord Himself took on Him “the form of a
slave.” For though all that the Creator expends upon His
creature is part of one and the same Fatherly love, yet it is less
wonderful than man should advance to divine things than that
God should descend to humanity. But
unless the Almighty God did deign to do this,
no kind of righteousness, no form of wisdom could rescue any one from
the devil’s bondage and from the depths of eternal death.
For the condemnation that passes with sin from one upon all would
remain, and our nature, corroded by its deadly wound, would discover no
remedy, because it could not alter its state in its own strength.
For the first man received the substance of flesh from the earth, and
was quickened with a rational spirit by the in-breathing of his
Creator Cf.
III. We all become partakers in the Birth of Christ, by the re-birth of baptism.
And so to undo this chain of sin and death, the
Almighty Son of God, that fills all things and
contains all things, altogether equal to the Father and co-eternal in
one essence from Him and with Him, took on Him man’s nature, and
the Creator and Lord of all things deigned to
be a mortal: choosing for His mother one whom He had made, one
who, without loss of her maiden honour, supplied so much of bodily
substance, that without the pollution of human seed the New Man might
be possessed of purity and truth. In Christ, therefore, born of
the Virgin’s womb, the nature does not differ from ours, because
His nativity is wonderful. For He Who is true God, is also true man: and there is no lie in either
nature. “The Word became flesh” by exaltation of the
flesh, not by failure of the Godhead: which so tempered its power
and goodness as to exalt our nature by taking it, and not to lose His
own by imparting it. In this nativity of Christ, according to the
prophecy of David, “truth sprang out of the earth, and
righteousness looked down from heaven
IV. The Manichæans, by rejecting the Incarnation, have fallen into terrible iniquities.
In this mystery, dear beloved, the mad error of
the Manichæans has no part, nor have they any partnership in the
regeneration of Christ, who say that He was corporeally born of the
Virgin Mary: so that, as they do not believe in His real
nativity, they do not accept His real passion either; and, not
acknowledging Him really buried, they reject His genuine
resurrection. For, having entered on the perilous path of their
abominable dogma, where all is dark and slippery, they rush into the
abyss of death over the precipice of falsehood, and find no sure ground
on which to rest; because, besides all their other diabolical
enormities, on the very chief feast of Christ’s worship, as their
latest confession has made manifest See Introd. p. vi.,
and for details of their iniquity, Serm. XVI. chaps. 4 and 5: the
words proxima confessione fix the date of this sermon probably
in 444 or 445.
V. Other heresies contain some portion of truth, but the Manichæans contain none whatever.
Other heresies, dearly beloved, although they are
all rightly to be condemned in their variety, yet have each in some
part of them that which is true. Arius, in laying down that the
Son of God is less than the Father and a
creature, and in thinking that the Holy Spirit was like all else made
by the same (Father), has lost himself in great blasphemy; but he has
not denied the eternal and unchangeable Godhead in the essence of the
Father, though he could not see it in the Unity of the Trinity.
Macedonius was devoid of the light of the Truth when he did not receive
the Godhead of the Holy Spirit, but he did acknowledge one power and
the same nature in the Father and the Son. Sabellius was plunged
into inextricable error by holding the unity of substance to be
inseparable in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, but granted to a
singleness of nature what he should have attributed to an equality of
nature Quod
æqualitati tribuere deberet, singularitati dedit, cf. Lett.
XV. chap. 2, where the Priscillianists’ notion (of a
singularis unitas in tribus vocabulis sed non in tribus accipienda
personis), is said to be taken from Sabellianism. Cf. Ruff. de
Symb. chap. 39, and Schaff, Ch. Hist., in loco, where
the relation of Photinus to Marcellus is explained.
VI. Christians must cling to the one Faith and not be led astray.
But you, dearly beloved, whom I address in no less
earnest terms than those of the blessed Apostle Peter, “a chosen
race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession Chrisma
(charisma, gift. Quesnel), salutis et signaculum
vitæ æternæ, the anointing and the sign of
the cross are, as is well known, two of the oldest baptismal
ceremonies; see Bingham, Antiq, Bk. xi. chap. 9.
S.
Sermon XXVI.
On the Feast of the Nativity, VI.
I. Christmas morning is the most appropriate time for thoughts on the Nativity.
On all days and at all times, dearly beloved, does
the birth of our Lord and Saviour from the
Virgin-mother occur to the thoughts of the
Nova etiam in
elementis luce radiante, the phrase seems to point to an early
service as the time of delivering this sermon (possibly the missa in
gallicantu). Apud
Dominicorum præsules gregum hodie evangelizandi forma
præcondita est. This clause has been taken to be an
allusion to the reciting of the angelic hymn Gloria in Excelsis,
at the Holy Eucharist, but as Bright (note 20, all of which should be
read) says, “the words do not necessarily mean more than that the
original Angelic hymn (S.
II. Christians are essentially participators in the nativity of Christ.
Although, therefore, that infancy, which the
majesty of God’s Son did not disdain,
reached mature manhood by the growth of years and, when the triumph of
His passion and resurrection was completed, all the actions of humility
which were undertaken for us ceased, yet to-day’s festival renews
for us the holy childhood of Jesus born of the Virgin Mary: and
in adoring the birth of our Saviour, we find we are celebrating the
commencement of our own life. For the birth of Christ is the
source of life for Christian folk, and the birthday of the Head is the
birthday of the body. Although every individual that is called
has his own order, and all the sons of the Church are separated from
one another by intervals of time, yet as the entire body of the
faithful being born in the font of baptism is crucified with Christ in
His passion, raised again in His resurrection, and placed at the
Father’s right hand in His ascension, so with Him are they born
in this nativity. For any believer in whatever part of the world
that is re-born in Christ, quits the old paths of his original
nature Interciso
originalis tramite vetustatis. Sanguis et
caro: it is noticeable that the same order is observed in
III. Peace with God is His best gift to man.
The Saviour then, dearly beloved, is born not of
fleshly seed but of the Holy Spirit, in such wise that the condemnation
of the first transgression did not touch Him. And hence the very
greatness of the boon conferred demands of us reverence worthy of its
splendour. For, as the blessed Apostle teaches, “we have
received not the spirit of this world but the Spirit which is of
God, that we may know the things which are
given us by God
IV. We must be worthy of our calling as sons and friends of God.
The mystery of this boon is great, dearly beloved,
and this gift exceeds all gifts that God
should call man son, and man should name God
Father: for by these terms we perceive and learn the love which
reached so great a height. For if in natural progeny and earthly
families those who are born of noble parents are lowered by the faults
of evil intercourse, and unworthy offspring are put to shame by the
very brilliance of their ancestry; to what end will they come who
through love of the world do not fear to be outcast from the family of
Christ? But if it gains the praise of men that the father’s
glory should shine again in their descendants, how much more glorious
is it for those who are born of God to regain
the brightness of their Maker’s likeness and display in
themselves Him Who begat them, as saith the Lord: “Let your light so shine before men that
they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in
heaven S. Cf. S.
V. The birth of Christ is the birth of peace to the Church.
They then who “are born not of blood nor of
the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God S. S. Pagani (lit.
villagers or rustics): the later meaning arose from the fact that
idolatry and superstition tend to linger longer in out-of-the-way rural
districts, than in the more civilized towns: cf.
“heath” and “heathen.” See Bright’s
note 24, and the references quoted by him. Hooker, v. 80. 2 ;
Trench, “on Study of Words,” p. 69, &c. S.
Sermon XXVII.
On the Feast of the Nativity, VII.
I. It is equally dangerous to deny the Godhead or the Manhood in Christ.
He is a true and devout worshipper,
dearly-beloved, of to-day’s festival who thinks nothing that is
either false about the Lord’s
Incarnation or unworthy about His Godhead. For it is an equally
dangerous evil to deny in Him the reality of our nature and the
equality with the Father in glory. When, therefore, we attempt to
understand the mystery of Christ’s nativity, wherein He was born
of the Virgin-mother, let all the clouds of earthly reasonings be
driven far away and the smoke of worldly wisdom be purged from the eyes
of illuminated faith: for the authority on which we trust is
divine, the teaching which we follow is divine. Inasmuch as
whether it be the testimony of the Law, or the oracles of the prophets,
or the trumpet of the gospel to which we apply our inward ear, that is
true which the blessed John full of the Holy Spirit uttered with his
voice of thunder Intonuit, no
doubt a reference to the name of Boanerges (sons of thunder) which he
shared with his brother James (S. S. S. S. S.
II. The Incarnation has changed all the possibilities of man’s existence.
The bodily Nativity therefore of the Son of
God took nothing from and added nothing to His
Majesty because His unchangeable substance could be neither diminished
nor increased. For that “the Word became flesh” does
not signify that the nature of God was changed
into flesh, but that the Word took the flesh into the unity of His
Person: and therein undoubtedly the whole man was received, with
which within the Virgin’s womb fecundated by the Holy Spirit,
whose virginity was destined never to be lost Et nunquam
virginitate caritura, cf. Letter XXVIII. (Tome) chap. 2, beatam
Mariam semper virginem: these two passages seem to me much
stronger than others quoted by Bright, n. 9, to prove Leo’s
belief in the perpetual virginity of the blessed Mary. S.
III. The Devil knows exactly what temptations to offer to each several person.
But in this mercifulness of God, dearly beloved, the greatness of which towards us we
cannot explain, Christians must be extremely careful lest they be
caught again in the devil’s wiles and once more entangled in the
errors which they have renounced. For the old enemy does not
cease to “transform himself into an angel of light
Umbrarum. CL Lett. XV.
chaps. 12–14, where such opinions are put down to the Spanish
Priscillianists, though doubtless Leo is thinking here rather of the
Manichæans, from whom they derived so many of their false
views.
IV. The foolish practice of some who turn to the sun and bow to it is reprehensible.
From such a system of teaching proceeds also the
ungodly practice of certain foolish folk who worship the sun as it
rises at the beginning of daylight from elevated positions: even
some Christians think it is so proper to do this that, before entering
the blessed Apostle Peter’s basilica, which is dedicated to the
One Living and true God, when they have
mounted the steps which lead to the raised platform Suggestum
areæ superioris: the older reading was
aræ: some of the mss.
again read arcæ which is no doubt midway
between the two. A learned dissertation on this passage by
Ciampini quoted by Quesnel (Migne’s Patrol. i. pp.
529–534), established the true reading: he says also that
this was the staircase up which the faithful climbed on bended knee in
approaching the Vatican basilica. S. Leo has alluded to
this curious practice already in Serm. XXII. chap. 6,
supra. It is perhaps hardly necessary to add that this
superstition has little, if any, connexion with the Christian habit of
turning to the East, which is probably rather to the Altar as the
centre of worship; for at all events in Western Christendom churches do
not by any means universally ‘orientate’ (i.e. lie due east
and west).
V. The sun and moon were created for use, not for worship.
This objectionable practice must be given up
therefore by the faithful, and the honour due to God alone must not be mixed up with those men’s
rites who serve their fellow-creatures. For the divine Scripture
says: “Thou shalt worship the Lord
thy God, and Him only shalt thou
serve S. He is of course
following the Mosaic order of creation, where the creation of the day
and night is ascribed to the first day and that of the Sun and Moon to
the fourth day (
VI. Let us awake to the proper use of all our parts and facilities.
Awake, O man, and recognize the dignity of thy
nature. Recollect thou wast made in the image of God, which although it was corrupted in Adam, was yet
re-fashioned in Christ. Use visible creatures as they should be
used, as thou usest earth, sea, sky, air, springs, and rivers:
and whatever in them is fair and wondrous, ascribe to the praise and
glory of the Maker. Be not subject to that light wherein birds
and serpents, beasts and cattle, flies and worms delight. Confine
the material light to your bodily senses, and with all your mental
powers embrace that “true light which lighteth every man that
cometh into this world S.
Sermon XXVIII.
On the Festival of the Nativity, VIII.
I. The Incarnation an unceasing source of joy.
Though all the divine utterances exhort us, dearly
beloved, to “rejoice in the Lord
always Nativitatis
Dominicæ sacramento nobis clarius coruscante: cf. XXVI.
chap. 1, note 1. I have no doubt that sacramentum here is
almost equivalent to “the festival with its sacred
observances” (cf. Bright’s n. 8), but I have preferred to
translate it as uniformly as possible by the same word
“mystery.” Cf. Sermon XXXI. chap. 1. In contradiction of
the Arian’s position ἦν
ποτε ὅτε οὐκ
ἦν: cf. Lett. XXVIII. (Tome), chap. 2, de
æterno natus est coæternus: non posterior
tempore.
II. The Virgin’s conception explained.
In celebrating therefore the birthday of our
Lord and Saviour, dearly beloved, let
us
S.
III. In redeeming man, justice as well as mercy had to be considered.
But the majesty of the Son of God in which He is equal with the Father in its garb of a
slave’s humility feared no diminution, required no
augmentation: and the very effect of His mercy which He expended
on the restitution of man, He was able to bring about solely by the
power of His Godhead; so as to rescue the creature that was made in the
image of God from the yoke of his cruel
oppressor. But because the devil had not shown himself so violent
in his attack on the first man as to bring him over to his side without
the consent of His free will, man’s voluntary sin and hostile
desires had to be destroyed in such wise that the standard of justice
should not stand in the way of the gift of Grace. And therefore
in the general ruin of the entire human race there was but one remedy
in the secret of the Divine plan which could succour the fallen, and
that was that one of the sons of Adam should be born free and innocent
of original transgression, to prevail for the rest both by His example
and His merits. Still further, because this was not permitted by
natural generation, and because there could be no offspring from our
faulty stock without seed, of which the Scripture saith, “Who can
make a clean thing conceived of an unclean seed? is it not Thou who art
alone Germinis
preferred to the older reading generis by the Ballerinii
as agreeing better with
IV. All heresies proceed from failure to believe the twofold nature of Christ.
The catholic Faith then, dearly beloved, may scorn
the errors of the heretics that bark against it, who, deceived by the
vanity of worldly wisdom, have forsaken the Gospel of Truth, and being
unable to understand the Incarnation of the Word, have constructed for
themselves out of the source of enlightenment occasion of
blindness. For after investigating almost all false
believers’ opinions, even those which presume to deny the Holy
Spirit, we come to the conclusion that hardly any one has gone astray,
unless he has refused to believe the reality of the two natures in
Christ under the confession of one Person. For some have ascribed
to the Lord only manhood These were called
‘Psilanthropists’ (upholders of the mere manhood): of
whom Cerinthus (the opponent of S. John) was the earliest
propounder. These are heretics
like Sabellius the founder of the Patripassian impiety. These are
‘Docetists,’ to whom Leo in Sermon LXV., chap. 4, compares
the Eutychians isti phantasmatici Christiani.
Simon Magus was the earliest exponent of this view. These are Arians
who, as Bright (n. 29) points out, in wishing to pacify the catholics
by exalting the character of Christ without acknowledging His equality
with the Father, fell into the error of setting up two Gods (an
Uncreate and a Created). This is the heresy
alluded to in note 3 above. Ab elementis
superioribus et subtilioribus sumptum, cf. Serm. XXX. chap. 2,
de sublimioris generis prodiisse materia. This is the
modification of “Docetism” adopted by the Gnostic
Valentinus (see Bright’s note 31). This is the view of
Apollinaris.
V. Nestorianism and Eutychianism are particularly to be avoided at the present time.
There are many other astounding falsehoods also
which we must not weary your ears, beloved, with enumerating. But
after all these various impieties, which are closely connected by the
relationship that exists between one form of blasphemy and another, we
call your devout attention to the avoiding of these two errors in
particular: one of which, with Nestorius for its author, some
time ago attempted to gain ground, but ineffectually; the other, which
is equally damnable, has more recently sprung up with Eutyches as its
propounder. The former dared to maintain that the blessed Virgin
Mary was the mother of Christ’s manhood only, so that in her
conception and childbearing no union might be believed to have taken
place of the Word and the Flesh: because the Son of God did not Himself become Son of Man, but of His mere
condescension linked Himself with created man. This can in no
wise be tolerated by catholic ears, which are so imbued with the gospel
of Truth that they know of a surety there is no hope of salvation for
mankind unless He were Himself the Son of the Virgin who was His
mother’s Creator. On the other hand this blasphemous
propounder of more recent profanity has confessed the union of the two
Natures in Christ, but has maintained that the effect of this very
union is that of the two one remained while the substance of the other
no longer existed, which of course could not have been brought to an
end except by either destruction or separation It is doubtful
whether Eutyches did ever actually say this, but it was the logical
inference from his position: as Gore (p 57), says “Eutyches
never formulated a heresy: he was no philosopher; but he refused
to say that the human nature remained in Christ after the
Incarnation. He shrank from calling Christ ‘of one
substance’ with us men: in some sort of way he left us to
suppose that the human nature was absorbed into and lost in the
Divinity.”
VI. The Deity and the Manhood were present in Christ from the very first.
Keep far from your hearts, dearly beloved, the
poisonous lies of the devil’s inspirations, and knowing that the
eternal Godhead of the Son underwent no growth while with the Father,
be wise and consider that to the same nature to which it was said in
Adam, “Thou art earth, and unto earth shalt thou go Cf. Lett. XXVIII.
(Tome), chap. 6.
VII. The fulness of the Godhead is imparted to the Body (the Church) through the Head, (Christ).
Meditate, dearly beloved on these things with
devout hearts, and be always mindful of the apostle’s injunction,
who admonishes all men, saying, “See lest any one deceive you
through philosophy and vain deceit according to the tradition of men,
and not according to Christ; for in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the
Godhead bodily, and ye have been filled in Him
Sermon XXXI.
On the Feast of the Epiphany, I.
I. The Epiphany a necessary sequel to the Nativity.
After celebrating but lately the day on which
immaculate virginity brought forth the Saviour of mankind, the
venerable feast of the Epiphany, dearly beloved, gives us continuance
of joy, that the force of our exultation and the fervour of our faith
may not grow cool, in the midst of neighbouring and kindred
mysteries Inter cognatarum
solemnitatum vicina sacramenta, cf. Serm. XXVIII. chap. 1, note
2. The number
“three” has no further scriptural support than the possible
inference from their threefold offerings. It will be noticed that
S. Leo knows nothing of their being kings, though that tradition is
apparently as old as Tertullian (adv. Marc. iii. 13), see
Bright’s n. 38.
II. Herod’s evil designs were fruitless. The wise men’s gifts were consciously symbolical.
These three men follow the leading of the light
above, and with stedfast gaze obeying the indications of the guiding
splendour, are led to the recognition of the Truth by the brilliance of
Grace, for they supposed that a king’s birth was notified in a
human sense Humano sensu
significatum sibi regis ortum, “by their natural
thoughts” in Bright’s translation: but I doubt
whether the words could bear that meaning, and whether they suit the
context: cf. Serm. XXXIV. chap. 2. Sacramentum
fidei suæ intelligentiæque: here sacramentum
seems to come nearer to the older and more general use of the word
among the Fathers, viz. symbol or sign. “He
means, Christ had a king’s power, both as God and as Man,” Bright, n. 42.
III. The massacre of the innocents is in harmony with the Virgin’s conception, which again teaches us purity of life.
And when the wise men had returned to their own
land, and Jesus had been carried into Egypt at the Divine suggestion,
Herod’s madness blazes out into fruitless schemes. He
orders all the little ones in Bethlehem to be slain, and since he knows
not which infant to fear, extends a general sentence against the age he
suspects. But that which the wicked king removes from the world,
Christ admits to heaven: and on those for whom He had not yet
spent His redeeming blood, He already bestows the dignity of
martyrdom. Lift your faithful hearts then, dearly-beloved, to the
gracious blaze of eternal light, and in adoration of the mysteries
dispensed for man’s salvation Impensa
humanæ saluti sacramenta. Acquirere,
S.
Sermon XXXIII.
On the Feast of the Epiphany, III.
I. When we were yet sinners, Christ came to save.
Although I know, dearly-beloved, that you are
fully aware of the purpose of to-day’s festival, and that the
words of the Gospel Secundum
consuetudinem evangelicus sermo reseraverit. The Roman Gospel
for the day was apparently then, as now with us, S.
For as justice was everywhere failing and the whole world was given over to vanity and wickedness, if the Divine Power had not deferred its judgment, the whole of mankind would have received the sentence of damnation. But wrath was changed to forgiveness, and, that the greatness of the Grace to be displayed might be the more conspicuous, it pleased God, to apply the mystery of remission to the abolishing of men’s sins at a time when no one could boast of his own merits.
II. The wise men from the East are typical fulfilments of God’s promise to Abraham.
Now the manifestation of this unspeakable mercy,
dearly-beloved, came to pass when Herod held the royal power in Judea,
where the legitimate succession of Kings having failed and the power of
the High-priests having been overthrown, an alien-born had gained the
sovereignty: that the rising of the true King might be attested
by the voice of prophecy, which had said: “a prince shall
not fail from Juda, nor a leader from his loins, until He come for whom
it is reserved Cf. Serm. XXXI.
chap. 2, above.
III. The chosen race is no longer the Jews, but believers of every nation.
And so they enter the chief city of the Kingdom of
Judæa, and in the royal city ask that He should be shown them Whom
they had learnt was begotten to be King. Herod is
perturbed: he fears for his safety, he trembles for his power, he
asks of the priests and teachers of the Law what the Scripture has
predicted about the birth of Christ, he ascertains what had been
prophesied: truth enlightens the wise men, unbelief blinds the
experts: carnal Israel understands not what it reads, sees not
what it points out; refers to the pages, whose utterances it does not
believe. Where is thy boasting, O Jew? where thy noble birth
drawn from the stem of Abraham? is not thy circumcision become
uncircumcision Or
“will” (testamenti, διαθήκης). Cf. Sermon XXXI.
chaps. i. and ii.
IV. The massacre of the Innocents through the consequent flight of Christ, brings the truth into Egypt.
Now when the wise men had worshipped the
Lord and finished all their devotions,
according to the warning of a dream, they return not by the same route
by which they had come. For it behoved them now that they
believed in Christ not to walk in the paths of their old line of life,
but having entered on a new way to keep away from the errors they had
left: and it was also to baffle Herod’s design, who, under
the cloke of homage, was planning a wicked plot against the Infant
Jesus. Hence when his crafty hopes were overthrown, the
king’s wrath rose to a greater fury. For reckoning up the
time which the wise men had indicated, he poured out his cruel rage on
all the men-children of Bethlehem, and in a general massacre of the
whole of that city Cæde
generali universæ civitatis illius; as the context shows, this
phrase is rhetorically exaggerated. Cf. Sermon XXXII.
chap. 1, Tunc autem Ægypto Salvator illatus est, ut gens
antiquis erroribus dedita, iam ad vicinam salutem per occultam gratiam
vocaretur; et quæ nondum eje cerat ab animo superstitionem, iam
reciperet veritatem.
V. We must keep this festival as thankful sons of light.
Taught then, dearly-beloved, by these mysteries of
Divine grace, let us with reasonable joy celebrate the day of our
first-fruits and the commencement of the nations’ calling:
“giving thanks to” the merciful God “who made us worthy,” as the Apostle says,
“to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light: who
delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the
kingdom of the Son of His love S. Both Quesnel and
the Ballerinii condemn this passage inclosed in brackets as
spurious. The former thinks it has crept into the text ex
annotatione marginali alicuius astrologiæ plus æquo
dediti. It is wanting in all the mss. melioris notæ.
Sermon XXXIV.
On the Feast of the Epiphany, IV.
I. The yearly observance of the Epiphany is profitable to Christians.
It is the right and reasonable duty of true piety,
dearly-beloved, on the days which bear witness to the works of Divine
mercy, to rejoice with the whole heart and to celebrate with all honour
the things which have been wrought for our salvation: for the
very law of recurring seasons calls us to such devout observance, and
has now brought before us the feast of the Epiphany, consecrated by the
Lord’s appearance soon after the day on
which the Son of God co-eternal with the
Father was born of a Virgin. And herein the providence of
God has established a great safeguard to our
faith, so that, whilst the worship of the Saviour’s earliest
infancy is repeated year by year, the production of true man’s
nature in Him might be proved by the original verifications
themselves. For this it is that justifies the ungodly, this it is
that makes sinners saints, to wit the belief in the true Godhead and
the true Manhood of the one Jesus Christ, our Lord: the Godhead, whereby being before all ages
“in the form of God” He is equal
with the Father: the Manhood whereby in the last days He is
united to Man in the “form of a slave.” For the
confirmation therefore of this Faith which was to be fore-armed against
all errors, it was a wondrous loving provision of the Divine plan that
a nation which dwelt in the far-off country of the East and was cunning
in the art of reading the stars, should receive the sign of the
infant’s birth who was to reign over all Israel. For the
unwonted splendour of a bright new star appeared to the wise men and
filled their mind with such wonder, as they gazed upon its brilliance,
that they could not think they ought to neglect what was announced to
them with such distinctness. And, as the event showed, the grace
of God was the disposing cause of this
wondrous thing: who when the whole of Bethlehem itself was still
unaware of Christ’s birth, brought it to the knowledge of
II. Both Herod and the wise men originally had an earthly conception of the kingdom signified; but the latter learnt the truth, the former did not.
But although it was the office of the Divine
condescension to make the Saviour’s Nativity recognizable to the
nations, yet for the understanding of the wondrous sign the wise men
could have had intimation even from the ancient prophecies of Balaam,
knowing that it was predicted of old and by constant repetition spread
abroad: “A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a man shall
rise out of Israel, and shall rule the nations
III. The perseverance of the Magi has led to the most important results.
Led then, dearly beloved, into Bethlehem by
obeying the guidance of the star, the wise men “rejoiced with
very great joy,” as the evangelist has told us: “and
entering the house, found the child with Mary, His mother; and falling
down they worshipped Him; and opening their treasures they presented to
Him gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh S. S. Alienæ
opis indignum.
IV. The Manichæan heresy corrupts the Scriptures in order to disprove the truth.
This peerless Faith, dearly-beloved, this Truth
proclaimed throughout all ages, is opposed by the devilish blasphemies
of the Manichæans: who to murder the souls of the deceived
have woven a deadly tissue of wicked doctrine out of impious and forged
lies, and over the ruins of their mad opinions men have fallen headlong
to such depths as to imagine a Christ with a fictitious body, who
presented nothing solid, nothing real to the eyes and touch of
men Whatever may be
the correct reading here, actionibus with the better
mss. or tactibus, the
conjecture of Quesnel from the reading of some mss. actibus, the meaning must be such as is
given in the translation. Oracula
representing the λόγια of the New Testament (viz.
Cf.
V. Avoid all dealings with the heretics, but intercede with God for them.
To confirm your hearts therefore, dearly-beloved,
in the Faith and Truth, let to-day’s festival help you all, and
let the catholic confession be fortified by the testimony of the
manifestation of the Saviour’s infancy, while we anathematize the
blasphemy of those who deny the flesh of our nature in Christ:
about which the blessed Apostle John has forewarned us in no doubtful
utterance, saying, “every spirit which confesses Christ Jesus to
have come in the flesh is of God: and
every spirit which destroys Jesus is not of God, and this is Antichrist Exsequentes
apostolicæ pietatis exemplum.
Sermon XXXVI.
On the Feast of the Epiphany, VI.
I. The story of the magi not only a byegone fact in history, but of everyday application to ourselves.
The day, dearly-beloved, on which Christ the
Saviour of the world first appeared to the nations must be venerated by
us with holy worship: and to-day those joys must be entertained
in our hearts which existed in the breasts of the three magi, when,
aroused by the sign and leading of a new star, which they believed to
have been promised, they fell down in presence of the King of heaven
and earth. For that day has not so passed away that the mighty
work, which was then revealed, has passed away with it, and that
nothing but the report of the thing has come down to us for faith to
receive and memory to celebrate; seeing that, by the oft-repeated gift
of God, our times daily enjoy the fruit of
what the first age possessed. And therefore, although the
narrative which is read to us from the Gospel Narratio
evangelicæ lectionis. This, according to Bright’s
n. 46 (q.v.) “refers to the reading of passages of Scripture by
the Lector as a part of the church service.”
II. Satan still carries on the wiles of Herod, and, as it were, personates him in his opposition to Christ.
These comparisons, dearly-beloved, being thoughtfully
considered, we find Herod’s character also not to be wanting, of
which the devil himself is now an unwearied imitator, just as he was
then a secret instigator. For he is tortured at the calling of
all the nations, and racked at the daily destruction of his power,
grieving at his being everywhere deserted, and the true King adored in
all places. He prepares devices, he hatches plots, he bursts out
into murders, and that he may make use of the remnants of those whom he
still deceives, is consumed with envy in the persons of the Jews, lies
treacherously in wait in the persons of heretics, blazes out into
cruelty in the persons of the heathen. For he sees that
III. The cessation of active persecution does not do away with the need of continued vigilance: Satan has only changed his tactics.
Such courage as this, dearly-beloved, we do not
believe to have been needful only at those times in which the kings of
the world and all the powers of the age were raging against
God’s people in an outburst of
wickedness, thinking it to redound to their greatest glory if they
removed the Christian name from the earth, but not knowing that
God’s Church grows through the frenzy of
their cruelty, since in the tortures and deaths of the martyrs, those
whose number was reckoned to be diminished were augmented through the
force of example Cf.
Tertullian’s famous boast in his Apologeticus (chap. l.,
§ 176), semen est Christianorum sanguis, and Leo’s
own words again, Serm. LXXXII. 6, non minuitur persecutionibus
ecclesia sed augetur. The warning of
this chapter is insisted on not only by Leo himself often elsewhere
(see references in Bright’s note 51), but, among others
doubtless, by Cyprian in more than one passage, esp. in De
Lapsis, where he accuses even the clergy of worldliness in the
strongest terms.
IV. Timely repentance gains God’s merciful consideration.
Our state of peace Cf. Cypr. de
lapsis v. traditam nobis divinitus disciplinam pax longa
corruperat.
Sermon XXXIX.
On Lent, I.
I. The benefits of abstinence shown by the example of the Hebrews.
In former days, when the people of the Hebrews and all the tribes of Israel were oppressed for their scandalous sins by the grievous tyranny of the Philistines, in order that they might be able to overcome their enemies, as the sacred story declares, they restored their powers of mind and body by the injunction of a fast. For they understood that they had deserved that hard and wretched subjection for their neglect of God’s commands, and evil ways, and that it was in vain for them to strive with arms unless they had first withstood their sin. Therefore abstaining from food and drink, they applied the discipline of strict correction to themselves, and in order to conquer their foes, first conquered the allurements of the palate in themselves. And thus it came about that their fierce enemies and cruel taskmasters yielded to them when fasting, whom they had held in subjection when full. And so we too, dearly beloved, who are set in the midst of many oppositions and conflicts, may be cured by a little carefulness, if only we will use the same means. For our case is almost the same as theirs, seeing that, as they were attacked by foes in the flesh so are we chiefly by spiritual enemies. And if we can conquer them by God’s grace enabling us to correct our ways, the strength of our bodily enemies also will give way before us, and by our self-amendment we shall weaken those who were rendered formidable to us, not by their own merits but by our shortcomings.
II. Use Lent to vanquish the enemy, and be thus preparing for Eastertide.
Accordingly, dearly-beloved, that we may be able
to overcome all our enemies, let us seek Divine aid by the observance
of the heavenly bidding, knowing that we cannot otherwise prevail
against our adversaries, unless we prevail against our own
selves. For we have many encounters with our own selves:
the flesh desires one thing against the spirit, and the spirit another
thing against the flesh Cf. Cf.
III. Fights are necessary to prove our Faith.
As we approach then, dearly-beloved, the beginning
of Lent, which is a time for the more careful serving of the
Lord, because we are, as it were, entering on
a kind of contest in good works, let us prepare our souls for fighting
with temptations, and understand that the more zealous we are for our
salvation, the more determined must be the assaults of our
opponents. But “stronger is He that is in us than He that
is against us Ut audistis,
viz. in the Gospel for Quadragesima, or the First Sunday in Lent then
apparently as now S.
IV. The Christian’s armour is both for defence and for attack.
So, dearly-beloved, let us who instructed in
Divine learning come wittingly to the present contest and strife, hear
the Apostle when he says, “for our struggle is not against flesh
and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of
this dark world, against spiritual wickedness in heavenly
things
V. Abstinence not only from food but from other evil desires, especially from wrath, is required in Lent.
Relying, therefore, dearly-beloved, on these arms,
let us enter actively and fearlessly on the contest set before
us: so that in this fasting struggle we may not rest satisfied
with only this end, that we should think abstinence from food alone
desirable. For it is not enough that the substance of our flesh
should be reduced, if the strength of the soul be not also
developed. When the outer man is somewhat subdued, let the inner
man be somewhat refreshed; and when bodily excess is denied to our
flesh, let our mind be invigorated by spiritual delights. Let
every Christian scrutinise himself, and search severely into his inmost
heart: let him see that no discord cling there, no wrong desire
be harboured. Let chasteness drive incontinence far away; let the
light of truth dispel the shades of deception; let the swellings of
pride subside; let wrath yield to reason; let the darts of
ill-treatment be shattered, and the chidings of the tongue be bridled;
let thoughts of revenge fall through, and injuries be given over to
oblivion. In fine, let “every plant which the heavenly
Father hath not planted be removed by the roots S. S. S.
VI. The right use of Lent will lead to a happy participation in Easter.
Accordingly, dearly-beloved, being mindful of our
weakness, because we easily fall into all kinds of faults, let us by no
means neglect this special remedy and most effectual healing of our
wounds. Let us remit, that we may have remission: let us
grant the pardon which we crave: let us not be eager to be
revenged when we pray to be forgiven. Let us not pass over the
groans of the poor with deaf ear, but with prompt kindness bestow our
mercy on the needy, that we may deserve to find mercy in the
judgment. And he that, aided by God’s grace, shall strain every nerve after this
perfection, will keep this holy fast faithfully; free from the leaven
of the old wickedness, in the unleavened bread of sincerity and
truth Cf.
Sermon XL.
On Lent, II.
I. Progress and improvement always possible.
Although, dearly-beloved, as the Easter festival approaches, the very recurrence of the season points out to us the Lenten fast, yet our words also must add their exhortations which, the Lord helping us, may be not useless to the active nor irksome to the devout. For since the idea of these days demands the increase of all our religious performances, there is no one, I am sure, that does not feel glad at being incited to good works. For though our nature which, so long as we are mortal, will be changeable, is advancing to the highest pursuits of virtue, yet always has the possibility of falling back, so has it always the possibility of advancing. And this is the true justness of the perfect that they should never assume themselves to be perfect, lest flagging in the purpose of their yet unfinished journey, they should fall into the danger of failure, through giving up the desire for progress.
And, therefore, because none of us, dearly beloved, is so perfect and holy as not to be able to be more perfect and more holy, let us all together, without difference of rank, without distinction of desert, with pious eagerness pursue our race from what we have attained to what we yet aspire to, and make some needful additions to our regular devotions. For he that is not more attentive than usual to religion in these days, is shown at other times to be not attentive enough.
II. Satan seeks to supply his numerous losses by fresh gains.
Hence the reading of the Apostle’s
proclamation has sounded opportunely in our ears, saying, “Behold
now is the accepted time, behold now is the day of salvation Viz. by baptism at the
Easter festival.
For whom would he not dare to try, who did not
keep from his treacherous attempts even on our Lord Jesus Christ? For, as the story of the Gospel
has disclosed Ut evangelica
patefecit historia, cf. Serm. XXXIX. 3, n. 8. S.
IV. The Fast should not end with abstinence from food, but lead to good deeds.
Therefore, dearly-beloved, seeing that, as we are
taught by our Redeemer’s precept, “man lives not in bread
alone, but in every word of God S.
V. And still further it should lead to personal amendment and domestic harmony.
But, beloved, in this opportunity for the
virtues’ exercise there are also other notable crowns, to be won
by no dispersing abroad of granaries, by no disbursement of money, if
wantonness is repelled, if drunkenness is abandoned, and the lusts of
the flesh tamed by the laws of chastity: if hatreds pass into
affection, if enmities be turned into peace, if meekness extinguishes
wrath, if gentleness forgives wrongs, if in fine the conduct of master
and of slaves is so well ordered that the rule of the one is milder,
and the discipline of the other is more complete. It is by such
observances then, dearly-beloved, that God’s mercy will be gained, the charge of sin wiped
out, and the adorable Easter festival devoutly kept. And this the
pious Emperors of the Roman world have long guarded with holy
observance; for in honour of the Lord’s
Passion and Resurrection they bend their lofty power, and relaxing the
severity of their decrees set free many of their prisoners: so
that on the days when the world is saved by the Divine mercy, their
clemency, which is modelled on the Heavenly goodness, may be zealously
followed by us. Let Christian peoples then imitate their princes,
and be
Sermon XLII.
On Lent, IV.
I. The Lenten fast an opportunity for restoring our purity.
In proposing to preach this most holy and
important fast to you, dearly beloved, how shall I begin more fitly
than by quoting the words of the Apostle, in whom Christ Himself was
speaking, and by reminding you of what we have read Cf. Serm. XL. chap.
ii. n. 5.
II. Lent must be used for removing all our defilements, and of good works there must be no stint.
As we are therefore, dearly-beloved, about to
enter on those mystic days which are dedicated to the benefits of
fasting, let us take care to obey the Apostle’s precepts,
cleansing “ourselves from every defilement of flesh and
spirit The reffs. are
obviously to Cf.
III. As with the Saviour, so with us, the devil tries to make our very piety its own snare.
But, dearly-beloved, doubt not that the devil, who
is the opponent of all virtues, is jealous of these good desires, to
which we are confident you are prompted of your own selves, and that to
this end he is arming the force of his malice in order to make your
very piety its own snare, and endeavouring to overcome by boastfulness
those whom he could not defeat by distrustfulness. For the vice
of pride is a near neighbour to good deeds, and arrogance ever lies in
wait hard by virtue: because it is hard for him that lives
praise-worthily not to be caught by man’s praise unless, as it is
written, “he that glorieth, glorieth in the Lord Cf. Serm. XXXVI.
chap. i., note 7. Si Christus eius
esset conditionis cuius est corporis, an obscurely expressed but
intrinsically clear statement.
IV. The perverse turn even their fasting into sin.
This adversary’s wiles then let us beware
of, not only in the enticements of the palate, but also in our purpose
of abstinence. For he who knew how to bring death upon mankind by
means of food, knows also how to harm us through our very fasting, and
using the Manichæans as his tools, as he once drove men to take
what was forbidden, so in the opposite direction he prompts them to
avoid what is allowed. It is indeed a helpful observance, which
accustoms one to scanty diet, and checks the appetite for
dainties: but woe to the dogmatizing of those whose very fasting
is turned to sin. For they condemn the creature’s nature to
the Creator’s injury, and maintain that they are defiled by
eating those things of which they contend the devil, not God, is the author: although absolutely nothing that
exists is evil, nor is anything in nature included in the actually
bad. For the good Creator made all things good and the Maker of
the universe is one, “Who made the heaven and the earth, the sea
and all that is in them
V. Be reasonable and seasonable in your fasting.
But ye, dearly-beloved, the holy offspring of the
catholic Mother, who have been taught in the school of Truth by
God’s Spirit, moderate your liberty with
due reasonableness, knowing that it is good to abstain even from things
lawful, and at seasons of greater strictness to distinguish one food
from another with a view to giving up the use of some kinds, not to
condemning their nature. And so be not infected with the error of
those who are corrupted merely by their own ordinances, “serving
the creature rather than the Creator In sacramentorum
communione.
VI. Make your fasting a reality by amendment in your lives.
Being therefore, dearly-beloved, fully instructed by these admonitions of ours, which we have often repeated in your ears in protest against abominable error, enter upon the holy days of Lent with Godly devoutness, and prepare yourselves to win God’s mercy by your own works of mercy. Quench your anger, wipe out enmities, cherish unity, and vie with one another in the offices of true humility. Rule your slaves and those who are put under you with fairness, let none of them be tortured by imprisonment or chains. Forego vengeance, forgive offences: exchange severity for gentleness, indignation for meekness, discord for peace. Let all men find us self-restrained, peaceable, kind: that our fastings may be acceptable to God. For in a word to Him we offer the sacrifice of true abstinence and true Godliness, when we keep ourselves from all evil: the Almighty God helping us through all, to Whom with the Son and Holy Spirit belongs one Godhead and one Majesty, for ever and ever. Amen.
Sermon XLVI.
On Lent, VIII.
I. Lent must be kept not only by avoiding bodily impurity but also by avoiding errors of thought and faith.
We know indeed, dearly-beloved, your devotion to
be so warm that in the fasting, which is the forerunner of the
Lord’s Easter, many of you will have
forestalled our exhortations. But because the right practice of
abstinence is needful not only to the mortification of the flesh but
also to the purification of the mind, we desire your observance to be
so complete that, as you cut down the pleasures that belong to the
lusts of the flesh, so you should banish the errors that proceed from
the imaginations of the heart. For he whose heart is polluted
with no misbelief prepares himself with true and reasonable
purification for the Paschal Feast, in which all the mysteries of our
religion meet together. For, as the Apostle says, that “all
that is not of faith is sin
II. All the actions of Christ reveal the presence of the twofold nature.
And so, dearly-beloved, when in reading or hearing
the Gospel you find certain things in our Lord
Jesus Christ subjected to injuries and certain things illumined by
miracles, in such a way that in the same Person now the Humanity
appears, and now the Divinity shines out, do not put down any of these
things to a delusion, as if in Christ there is either Manhood alone or
Godhead alone, but believe both faithfully, worship both right humbly;
so that in the union of the Word and the Flesh there may be no
separation, and the bodily proofs may not seem delusive, because the
divine signs were evident in Jesus. The attestations to both
natures in Him are true and abundant, and by the depth of the Divine
purpose all concur to this end, that the inviolable Word not being
separated from the passible flesh, the Godhead may be understood as in
all things partaker with the flesh and flesh with the Godhead.
And, therefore, must the Christian mind that would eschew lies and be
the disciple of truth, use the Gospel-story confidently, and, as if
still in company with the Apostles themselves, distinguish what is
visibly done by the Lord, now by the spiritual
understanding and now by the bodily organs of sight. Assign to
the man that He is born a boy of a woman: assign to God that His mother’s virginity is not harmed,
either by conception or by bearing. Recognize “the form of
a slave” enwrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger, but
acknowledge that it was the Lord’s form
that was announced by angels, “proclaimed by the
elements Declaratam ab
elementis, viz. by the star in the east.
III. Hold fast to the statements of the Creed.
This belief in the Lord’s Incarnation, dearly-beloved, through which
the whole Church is Christ’s body Per quam tota
Ecclesia corpus est Christi. This is a great saying, by which
the centrality of the doctrine of the Incarnation is fearlessly
asserted. Notice that both
here and in the next sentence the construction is credite
Filium—credite Hunc not credite in
Filium—in Hunc, the exact language of the
creed being the latter (I believe in, &c.).
IV. Use Lent for general improvement in the whole round of Christian duties.
Relying, therefore, dearly-beloved, on so great a
promise, be heavenly not only in hope,
Lit. “polish
yourselves up” (expolite vos). S. A malis omnibus
liberemus. The free turn given to this passage is
interesting: ἀπὸ τοῦ
πονηροῦ (Vulg. a
malo) being now considered personal “from the evil one”
(R.V.).
Sermon XLIX.
On Lent, XI.
I. The Lenten fast is incumbent on all alike.
On all days and seasons, indeed, dearly-beloved, some marks of the Divine goodness are set, and no part of the year is destitute of sacred mysteries, in order that, so long as proofs of our salvation meet us on all sides, we may the more eagerly accept the never-ceasing calls of God’s mercy. But all that is bestowed on the restoration of human souls in the divers works and gifts of grace is put before us more clearly and abundantly now, when no isolated portions of the Faith are to be celebrated, but the whole together. For as the Easter festival approaches, the greatest and most binding of fasts is kept, and its observance is imposed on all the faithful without exception; because no one is so holy that he ought not to be holier, nor so devout that he might not be devouter. For who, that is set in the uncertainty of this life, can be found either exempt from temptation, or free from fault? Who is there who would not wish for additions to his virtue, or removal of his vice? seeing that adversity does us harm, and prosperity spoils us, and it is equally dangerous not to have what we want at all, and to have it in the fullest measure. There is a trap in the fulness of riches, a trap in the straits of poverty. The one lifts us up in pride, the other incites us to complaint. Health tries us, sickness tries us, so long as the one fosters carelessness and the other sadness. There is a snare in security, a snare in fear; and it matters not whether the mind which is given over to earthly thoughts, is taken up with pleasures or with cares; for it is equally unhealthy to languish under empty delights, or to labour under racking anxiety.
II. The broad road is crowded, the narrow way of salvation nearly empty.
And thus is perfectly fulfilled that assurance of
the Truth, by which we learn that “narrow and steep is the way
that leads to life S.
III. Satan is incited to fresh efforts at this season of the year.
And, dearly-beloved, no season requires and
bestows this fortitude more than the present, when by the observance of
a special strictness a habit is acquired which must be persevered
in. For it is well known to you that this is the time when
throughout the world the devil waxes furious, and the Christian army
has to combat him, and any that have grown lukewarm and slothful, or
that are absorbed in worldly cares, must now be furnished with
spiritual armour and their ardour kindled for the fray by the heavenly
trumpet, inasmuch as he, through whose envy death came into the
world The allusion is of
course to the large number of persons baptized every year at
Easter. Portas
misericordiæ Apostolica clave reserante ad remedia
reconciliationis admitti: no doubt confession and priestly
absolution is meant with a reference to S.
IV. Self-examination by the standard of God’s commands the right occupation in Lent.
And so, that the malice of the fretting foe may
effect nothing by its rage, a keener devotion must be awaked to the
performance of the Divine commands, in order that we may enter on the
season, when all the mysteries of the Divine mercy meet together, with
preparedness both of mind and body, invoking the guidance and help of
God, that we may be strong to fulfil all
things through Him, without Whom we can do nothing. For the
injunction is laid on us, in order that we may seek the aid of Him Who
lays it. Nor must any one excuse himself by reason of his
weakness, since He Who has granted the will, also gives the power, as
the blessed Apostle James says, “If any of you lack wisdom, let
him ask of God, Who giveth to all liberally
and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him S. Artifex misericordia
Dei.
V. Forgiveness of our own sins requires that we should forgive others.
But because, as it is written, “in many
things we all stumble S. Ut suas culpas
habeat impunitas (some through a misunderstanding of the argument
read punitas here) quam ut plectat alienas. S.
VI. Reconciliation between enemies and alms-giving are also Lenten duties.
Furthermore, as the Lord
says, that “the peacemakers are blessed, because they shall be
called sons of God S.
Sermon LI.
A Homily delivered on the Saturday
before the Second Sunday in Lent—on the Transfiguration,
S.
I. Peter’s confession shown to lead up to the Transfiguration.
The Gospel lesson, dearly-beloved, which has reached the inner hearing of our minds through our bodily ears, calls us to the understanding of a great mystery, to which we shall by the help of God’s grace the better attain, if we turn our attention to what is narrated just before.
The Saviour of mankind, Jesus Christ, in founding
that faith, which recalls the wicked to righteousness and the dead to
life, used to instruct His disciples by admonitory teaching and by
miraculous acts to the end that He, the Christ, might be believed to be
at once the Only-begotten of God and the Son
of Man. For the one without the other was of no avail to
salvation, and it was equally dangerous to have believed the
Lord Jesus Christ to be either only
God without manhood, or only man without
Godhead The same words are
used in Lett. XXVIII. (Tome), chap. 5.
II. The same continued.
But this exalted and highly-praised understanding,
dearly-beloved, had also to be instructed on the mystery of
Christ’s lower substance, lest the Apostle’s faith, being
raised to the glory of confessing the Deity in Christ, should deem the
reception of our weakness unworthy of the impassible God, and incongruous, and should believe the human nature
to be so glorified in Him as to be incapable of suffering punishment,
or being dissolved in death. And, therefore, when the
Lord said that He must go to Jerusalem, and
suffer many things from the elders and scribes and chief of the
priests, and the third day rise
Præcelso
(Vulg. excelso): possibly the form of the adjective
supports Codex Bezæ (D) in adding λίαν after ὑψηλόν. S.
III. The object and the meaning of the Transfiguration.
And in this Transfiguration the foremost object
was to remove the offence of the cross from the disciple’s heart,
and to prevent their faith being disturbed by the humiliation of His
voluntary Passion by revealing to them the excellence of His hidden
dignity. But with no less foresight, the foundation was laid of
the Holy Church’s hope, that the whole body of Christ might
realize the character of the change which it would have to receive, and
that the members might promise themselves a share in that honour which
had already shone forth in their Head. About which the
Lord had Himself said, when He spoke of the
majesty of His coming, “Then shall the righteous shine as the sun
in their Father’s Kingdom S.
IV. The significance of the appearance of Moses and Elias.
For Moses and Elias, that is the Law and the
Prophets, appeared talking with the Lord; that
in the presence of those five men might most truly be fulfilled what
was said: “In two or three witnesses stands every
word Antiquarum
protestationum instrumenta. Utriusque
fœderis paginæ (instead of the more usual
Testamenti). S.
V. S. Peter’s suggestion contrary to the Divine order.
The Apostle Peter, therefore, being excited by the
revelation of these mysteries, despising
Sc. booths or
tents.
VI. The import of the Father’s voice from the cloud.
And so while He was yet speaking, behold a bright
cloud overshadowed them, and behold a voice out of the cloud, saying,
“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye
Him.” The Father was indeed present in the Son, and in the
Lord’s brightness, which He had tempered
to the disciples’ sight, the Father’s Essence was not
separated from the Only-begotten: but, in order to emphasize the
two-fold personality, as the effulgence of the Son’s body
displayed the Son to their sight, so the Father’s voice from out
the cloud announced the Father to their hearing. And when this
voice was heard, “the disciples fell upon their faces, and were
sore afraid,” trembling at the majesty, not only of the Father,
but also of the Son: for they now had a deeper insight into the
undivided Deity of Both: and in their fear they did not separate
the One from the Other, because they doubted not in their
faith Quia in fide non
fuit hæsitatio, non fuit in timore discretio.
VII. Who it is we have to hear.
“Hear ye Him,” therefore,
unhesitatingly, in Whom I am throughout well pleased, and by Whose
preaching I am manifested, by Whose humiliation I am glorified; because
He is “the Truth and the Life S. S.
VIII. The Father’s words have a universal application to the whole Church.
These things, dearly-beloved, were said not for their
profit only, who heard them with their own ears, but in these three
Apostles the whole Church has learnt all that their eyes saw and their
ears heard. Let all men’s faith then be established,
according to the preaching of the most holy Gospel, and let no one
Sermon LIV.
On the Passion, III.; delivered on the Sunday before Easter.
I. The two-fold nature of Christ set forth.
Among all the works of God’s mercy, dearly-beloved, which from the beginning have been bestowed upon men’s salvation, none is more wondrous, and none more sublime, than that Christ was crucified for the world. For to this mystery all the mysteries of the ages preceding led up, and every variation which the will of God ordained in sacrifices, in prophetic signs, and in the observances of the Law, foretold that this was fixed, and promised its fulfilment: so that now types and figures are at an end, and we find our profit in believing that accomplished which before we found our profit in looking forward to. In all things, therefore, dearly-beloved, which pertain to the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Catholic Faith maintains and demands that we acknowledge the two Natures to have met in our Redeemer, and while their properties remained, such a union of both Natures to have been effected that, from the time when, as the cause of mankind required, in the blessed Virgin’s womb, “the Word became flesh,” we may not think of Him as God without that which is man, nor as man without that which is God. Each Nature does indeed express its real existence by actions that distinguish it, but neither separates itself from connexion with the other. Nothing is wanting there on either side; in the majesty the humility is complete, in the humility the majesty is complete: and the unity does not introduce confusion, nor does the distinctiveness destroy the unity. The one is passible, the other inviolable; and yet the degradation belongs to the same Person, as does the glory. He is present at once in weakness and in power; at once capable of death and the vanquisher of it. Therefore, God took on Him whole Manhood, and so blended the two Natures together by means of His mercy and power, that each Nature was present in the other, and neither passed out of its own properties into the other.
II. The two natures acted conjointly, and the human sufferings were not compulsory, but in accordance with the Divine will.
But because the design of that mystery which was
ordained for our restoration before the eternal ages, was not to be
carried out without human weakness and without Divine power This passage from
“both form” down to “race” is repeated almost
word for word in Lett. XXVIII. (The Tome), chap. 4. S.
III. Judas’ infamy has never been exceeded.
And hence, Judas, thou art proved more criminal
and unhappier than all; for when repentance should have called thee
back to the Lord, despair dragged thee to the
halter. Thou shouldest have awaited the completion of thy crime,
and have put off thy ghastly death by hanging, until Christ’s
Blood was shed for all sinners. And among the many miracles and
gifts of the Lord’s which might have
aroused thy conscience, those holy mysteries, at least, might have
rescued thee from thy headlong fall, which at the Paschal supper thou
hadst received, being even then detected in thy treachery by the sign
of Divine knowledge. Why dost thou
IV. Christ voluntarily bartered His glory for our weakness.
When, therefore, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to
Himself S. S. Cf. S.
V. S. Peter was the first to benefit by his Master’s humiliation.
And how much this humiliation conferred upon all
the faithful, the most blessed Apostle Peter was the first to prove,
who, after the fierce blast of threatening cruelty had dismayed him,
quickly changed, and was restored to vigour, finding remedy from the
great Pattern, so that the suddenly-shaken member returned to the
firmness of the Head. For the bond-servant could not be
“greater than the Lord, nor the disciple
greater than the master Cf. Cf.
VI. The mad counsel of the Jews was turned to their own destruction.
“And when morning was come all the chief
priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him
to death S. Cf. Leo seems here to
speak as if the story of the Passion from the Gospels in his time was
read only on the Sunday and Wednesday in Holy Week: various uses
prevailed, for which cf. Bingham’s Antiq. Bk. xiv. chap. iii.
§ 3.
Sermon LV.
On the Lord’s Passion IV., delivered on Wednesday in Holy Week.
I. The difference between the penitence and blasphemy of the two robbers is a type of the human race.
That which we owe to your expectations, dearly-beloved, must be paid through the Lord’s bountiful answer to your prayers that He Who has made you eager in the demanding would make us fit for the performing.
In speaking but lately of the Lord’s Passion we reached the point in the Gospel
story, where Pilate is said to have yielded to the Jews’ wicked
shouts that Jesus should be crucified. And so when all things had
been accomplished, which the Godhead veiled in frail flesh Divinitas carnis
velamine temperata. It is not easy to render the exact force
of this phrase in English without a danger of being misunderstood. Gradum nobis
fecit ad gloriam. Quesnel’s reading
gaudium, though well supported by the mss., is, I think with the Ball., unsatisfactory, cf.
Serm. LI. chap. 7, per crucis supplicium gradus vobis
ascensionis parat ad regnum. S.
II. The chief priests showed utter ignorance of Scripture in their taunts.
But the chief priests, for whom the Saviour sought
forgiveness, rendered the torture of the cross yet worse by the barbs
of railery; and at Him, on Whom they could vent no more fury with their
hands, they hurled the weapons of their tongues, saying, “He
saved others; Himself he cannot save. If He is the King of
Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we believe
Him S.
III. The triumph of the Cross is immediate and effective.
The Cross of Christ, therefore,
symbolizes Sacramentum
habet.
IV. When the last act in the tragedy was over how must the Jews have felt?
And then, having now tasted the vinegar, the
produce of that vineyard which had degenerated in spite of its Divine
Planter, and had turned to the sourness of a foreign vine The reference is
perhaps to
V. Chastity and charity are the two things most needful in preparing for Easter Communion.
Seeing therefore, dearly-beloved, that
God’s Mercy is so great, that He has
deigned to justify by faith many even from among such a nation, and had
adopted into the company of the patriarchs and into the number of the
chosen people us who were once perishing in the deep darkness of our
old ignorance, let us mount to the summit of our hopes not sluggishly
nor in sloth; but prudently and faithfully reflecting from what
captivity and from how miserable a bondage, with what ransom we were
purchased, by how strong an arm led out, let us glorify God in our body: that we may show Him dwelling in
us, even by the uprightness of our manner of life. And because no
virtues are worthier or more excellent than merciful loving-kindness
and unblemished chastity, let us more especially equip ourselves with
these weapons, so that, raised from the earth, as it were on the two
wings of active charity and shining purity, we may win a place in
heaven. And whosoever, aided by God’s grace, is filled with this desire and glories
not in himself, but in the Lord, over his
progress, pays due honour to the Easter mystery. His threshold
the angel of destruction does not cross, for it is marked with the
Lamb’s blood and the sign of the cross Cf. Cf. Cf.
Sermon LVIII.
(On the Passion, VII.)
I. The reason of Christ suffering at the Paschal Feast.
I know indeed, dearly-beloved, that the Easter
festival partakes of so sublime a mystery as to surpass not only the
slender perceptions of my humility, but even the powers of great
intellects. But I must not consider the greatness of the Divine
work in such a way as to distrust or to feel ashamed of the service
which I owe; for we may not hold our peace upon the mystery of
man’s salvation, even if it cannot be explained. But, your
prayers aiding us, we believe God’s
Grace will be granted, to sprinkle the barrenness of our heart with the
dew of His inspiration:
II. The leading Jews broke their own Law, as well as failed to apprehend the new dispensation in destroying Christ.
And hence, when the chief priests gathered the
scribes and elders of the people together to their council, and the
minds of all the priests were occupied with the purpose of doing wrong
to Jesus, the teachers of the law put themselves without the law, and
by their own voluntary failure in duty abolished their ancestral
ceremonies. For when the Paschal feast began, those who ought to
have adorned the temple, cleansed the vessels, provided the victims,
and employed a holier zeal in the purifications that the law enjoined,
seized with the fury of traitorous hate, give themselves up to one
work, and with uniform cruelty conspire for one crime, though they were
doomed to gain nothing by the punishment of innocence and the
condemnation of righteousness, except the failure to apprehend the new
mysteries and the violation of the old. The chiefs, therefore, in
providing against a tumult arising on a holy day Cf. S.
III. Jesus instituting the Blessed Sacrament showed mercy to the traitor Judas to the last.
But Jesus, sure of His purpose and undaunted in
carrying out His Father’s will, fulfilled the New Testament and
founded a new Passover. For while the disciples were lying down
with Him at the mystic Supper, and when discussion was proceeding in
the hall of Caiaphas how Christ might be put to death, He, ordaining
the Sacrament of His Body and Blood, was teaching them what kind of
Victim must be offered up to God, and not even
from this mystery was the betrayer kept away, in order to show that he
was exasperated by no personal wrong, but had determined beforehand of
his own free-will upon his treachery. For he was his own source
of ruin and cause of perfidy, following the guidance of the devil and
refusing to have Christ as director. And so when the Lord said, “Verily I say to you that one of you is
about to betray Me,” He showed that His betrayer’s
conscience was well known to Him, not confounding the traitor by harsh
or open rebukes, but meeting him with mild and silent warnings that he
who had never been sent astray by rejection, might the easier be set
right by repentance. Why, unhappy Judas, dose thou not make use
of so great long-suffering? Behold, the Lord spares thy wicked attempts; Christ betrays thee to
none save thyself. Neither thy name nor thy person is discovered,
but only the secrets of thy heart are touched by the word of truth and
mercy. The honour of the apostolic rank is not denied thee, nor
yet a share in the Sacraments. Return to thy right mind; lay
aside thy madness and be wise. Mercy invites thee, Salvation
knocks at the door, Life recalls thee to life. Lo, thy stainless
and guiltless fellow-disciples shudder at the hint of thy crime, and
all tremble for themselves till the author of the treachery is
declared. For they are saddened not by the accusations of
conscience, but by the uncertainty of man’s changeableness;
fearing lest what each knew against himself be less true than what the
Truth Himself foresaw. But thou abusest the Lord’s patience in this panic of the saints, and
believest that thy bold front hides thee. Thou addest impudence
to guilt, and art not frightened by so clear a test. And when the
others refrain from
IV. Various incidents of the Passion further explained and the reality of Christ’s sufferings asserted.
And thus it followed, dearly-beloved, that as John
the Evangelist has narrated, when the Lord
offered the bread which He had dipped to His betrayer, more clearly to
point him out, the devil entirely seized Judas, and now, by his
veritable act of wickedness, took possession of one whom he had already
bound down by his evil designs. For only in body was he lying
there with those at meat: in mind he was arming the hatred of the
priests, the falseness of the witnesses, and the fury of the ignorant
mob. At last the Lord, seeing on what a
gross crime Judas was bent says, “What thou doest, do
quickly S. S. S.
V. The resignation of Christ is an undying lesson to the Church.
And so, dearly beloved, when the Son of
God says, “Father, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from Me This is Sermon
LIX. which follows in extenso. See Serm. LIV., chap. vi.
n. 2.
Sermon LIX.
(On the Passion, VIII.: on Wednesday in Holy Week.)
I. Christ’s arrest fulfils His own eternal purpose.
Having discoursed, dearly beloved, in our last
sermon, on the events which preceded the Lord’s arrest, it now remains, by the help of
God’s grace, to discuss, as we promised,
the details of the Passion itself. When the Lord had made it clear by the words of His sacred prayer
that the Divine and the Human Nature was most truly and fully present
in Him, showing that the unwillingness to suffer proceeded from the
one, and from the other the determination to suffer by the expulsion of
all frail fears and the strengthening of His lofty power, then did He
return to His eternal purpose, and “in the form of a”
sinless “slave” encounter the devil who was savagely
attacking Him by the hands of the Jews: that He in Whom alone was
all men’s nature without fault, might undertake the cause of
all. The sins of darkness, therefore, assailed the true Light,
and, for all their torches and lanterns The allusion doubtless
is to the “lanterns and torches” mentioned by S.
II. How great was Pilate’s crime in allowing himself to be led astray by the Jews.
Accordingly, permitting the infliction on Himself
of all that the people’s fury inflamed by the priests dared do,
He is brought to Annas, father-in-law to Caiaphas, and thence Annas
passes Him on to Caiaphas: and after the calumniators’ mad
accusations, after the lying falsehoods of suborned witnesses, He is
transferred to Pilate’s hearing by the delegation of the two
high-priests, who in neglecting the Divine law, and exclaiming that
they had “no king but Cæsar,” as if they were devoted
to the Roman laws, and had left the whole judgment in the hands of the
governor, really sought for an accomplisher of their cruelty rather
than an umpire of the case. For they gave up Jesus, bound in hard
bonds, bruised by many buffets and blows, spat upon, already condemned
by their shouts: so that amidst so many signs of their own
verdict Pilate might not dare to acquit One Whom all desired to
perish. In fact, the very inquiry shows both that he found in the
Accused no fault and that in his judgment he did not adhere to his
purpose: for as judge he condemns One Whom he pronounces
guiltless, invoking on the unrighteous people the blood of the
Righteous Man with Whom he felt by his own conviction, and knew from
his wife’s dream Cf.
III. Yet the Jews’ guilt was infinitely greater.
In bowing, therefore, dearly-beloved, to the
madness of the implacable people, in permitting Jesus to be dishonoured
by much mocking, and harassed with excessive insults, and in displaying
Him to the eyes of His persecutors lacerated with scourges, crowned
with thorns, and clothed in a robe of scorn, Pilate doubtless thought
to appease the enemies’ minds, so that when they had glutted
their cruel hate, they might cease further to persecute One Whom they
beheld subjected to such a variety of afflictions. But their
wrath was still in full blaze, and they cried out to him to release
Barabbas and thus, Jesus bear the penalty of the cross, and thus, when
with consenting murmur the crowd said “His blood be on us and on
our sons Cf.
IV. Christ bearing His own cross is an eternal lesson to the Church.
And so the Lord was
handed over to their savage wishes, and in mockery of His kingly state,
ordered to be the bearer of His own instrument of death, that what
Isaiah the prophet foresaw might be fulfilled, saying, “Behold a
Child is born, and a Son is given to us whose government is upon His
shoulders S.
V. The transference of the cross from the Lord to Simon of Cyrene signifies the participation of the Gentiles in His sufferings.
But as the multitudes went with Jesus to the place
of punishment, a certain Simon of Cyrene was found on whom to lay the
wood of the cross instead of the Lord; that
even by this act might be pre-signified the Gentiles’ faith, to
whom the cross of Christ was to be not shame but glory. It was
not accidental, therefore, but symbolical and mystical, that while the
Jews were raging against Christ, a foreigner was found to share His
sufferings, as the Apostle says, “if we suffer with Him, we shall
also reign with Him
VI. We are to see not only the cross but the meaning of it.
Accordingly, dearly-beloved, Christ being lifted
up upon the cross, let the eyes of your mind not dwell only on that
sight which those wicked sinners saw, to whom it was said by the mouth
of Moses, “And thy life shall be hanging before thine eyes, and
thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt not be assured of thy
life
VII. The power of the cross is universally attractive.
O wondrous power of the Cross! O ineffable
Cf. S.
VIII. We must live not for ourselves but for Christ, who died for us.
Let us, then, dearly-beloved, confess what the
blessed teacher of the nations, the Apostle Paul, confessed, saying,
“Faithful is the saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners
Sermon LXII.
(On the Passion, XI.)
I. The mystery of the Passion passes man’s comprehension.
The Feast of the Lord’s Passion Festivitas
dominicæ passionis is at first sight a strange phrase, but in
reality most suggestive.
II. The Creed takes up S. Peter’s confession as the fundamental doctrine of the Church.
In that rule of Faith, dearly-beloved, which we
have received in the very beginning of the Creed, on the authority of
apostolic teaching, we acknowledge our Lord
Jesus Christ, whom we call the only Son of God
the Father Almighty, to be also born of the Virgin Mary by the Holy
Ghost. Nor do we reject His Majesty when we express our belief in
His crucifixion, death, and resurrection on the third day. For
all that is God’s and all that is
Man’s are simultaneously fulfilled by His Manhood and His
Godhead, so that in virtue of the union of the Passible with the
Impassible, His power cannot be affected by His weakness, nor His
weakness overcome by His power. And rightly was the blessed
Apostle Peter praised for confessing this union, who when the
Lord was inquiring what the disciples knew of
Him, quickly anticipated the rest and said, “Thou art Christ, the
Son of the living God S. S.
III. The Devil’s devices were turned against himself.
And in order that He might set the human race free
from the bonds of deadly transgression, He hid the power of His majesty
from the raging devil, and opposed him with our frail and humble
nature. For if the cruel and proud foe could have known the
counsel of God’s mercy, he would have
aimed at soothing the Jews’ minds into gentleness rather than at
firing them with unrighteous hatred, lest he should lose the thraldom
of all his captives in assailing the liberty of One Who owed him
nought. Thus he was foiled by his malice: he inflicted a
punishment on the Son of God, which was turned
to the healing of all the sons of men. He shed righteous Blood,
which became the ransom and the drink for the world’s
atonement. The Lord undertook that which
He chose according to the purpose of His own will. He permitted
madmen to lay their wicked hands upon Him: hands which, in
ministering to their own doom, were of service to the Redeemer’s
work. And yet so great was His loving compassion for even His
murderers, that He prayed to the Father on the cross, and begged not
for His own vengeance but for their forgiveness, saying, “Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they do S. S.
IV. Why Judas could not obtain forgiveness through Christ.
To this forgiveness the traitor Judas could not
attain: for he, the son of perdition, at whose right the devil
stood Cf. S. S. S. S.
V. The cruelty of Christ’s crucifixion is lost in its wondrous power.
Accordingly that which false witnesses, cruel
leaders of the people, wicked priests did against the Lord Jesus Christ, through the agency of a coward governor
and an ignorant band of soldiers, has been at once the abhorrence and
the rejoicing of all ages. For though the Lord’s cross was part of the cruel purpose of the
Jews, yet is it of wondrous power through Him they crucified. The
people’s fury was directed against One, and the mercy of Christ
is for all mankind. That which their cruelty inflicts He
voluntarily undergoes, in order that the work of His eternal will may
be carried out through their unhindered crime. And hence the
whole order of events which is most fully narrated in the Gospels must
be received by the faithful in such a way that by implicit belief in
the occurrences which happened at the time of the Lord’s Passion, we should understand that not only
was the remission of sins accomplished by Christ, but also the standard
of justice satisfied. But that this may be more thoroughly
discussed by the Lord’s help, let us
reserve this portion of the subject till the fourth day of the
week. See Serm. LIV. chap.
vi. n. 2.
Sermon LXIII.
(On the Passion, XII.: preached on Wednesday.)
I. God chose to save man by strength made perfect in weakness.
The glory, dearly-beloved, of the Lord’s Passion, on which we promised to speak again
to-day, is chiefly wonderful for its mystery of humility, which has
both ransomed and instructed us all, that He, Who paid the price, might
also impart His righteousness to us. For the Omnipotence of the
Son of God, whereby He is by the same Essence
equal to the Father, might have rescued mankind from the dominion of
the devil by the mere exercise of Its will, had it not better suited
the Divine working to conquer the opposition of the foe’s
wickedness by that which had been conquered, and to restore our
nature’s liberty by that very nature by which bondage had come
upon the whole race. But, when the evangelist says, “The
Word became flesh and dwelt in us S.
II. God’s plan was always partially understood, and is now of universal application.
This plan of God’s
mercy and justice, though in the ages past it was in a measure
enshrouded in darkness, was yet not so completely hidden that the
saints, who have most merited praise from the beginning till the coming
of the Lord, were precluded from understanding
it: seeing that the salvation, which was to come through Christ,
was promised both by the words of prophecy and by the significance of
events, and this salvation not only they attained who foretold it, but
all they also who believed their predictions. For the one Faith
justifies the saints of all ages, and to the self-same hope of the
faithful pertains all that by Jesus Christ, the Mediator between
God and man, we acknowledge done, or our
fathers reverently accepted as to be done. And between Jew and
Gentile there is no distinction, since, as the Apostle says,
“Circumcision is
III. The union of the Divine Head with Its members inseparable.
There is no doubt therefore, dearly-beloved, that
man’s nature has been received by the Son of God into such a union that not only in that Man Who is the
first-begotten of all creatures, but also in all His saints there is
one and the self-same Christ, and as the Head cannot be separated from
the members, so the members cannot be separated from the Head.
For although it is not in this life, but in eternity that God is to be “all in all S.
IV. Christ’s passion provided a saving mystery and an example for us to follow.
And what is suggested to our hearts by these and
many other references, save that we should in all things be renewed in
His image Who, remaining “in the form of God Cf. Sacramentum
(with its saving efficacy) et exemplum (with its spur to
exertion), see Bright’s n. 74.
V. Christ not destroyed, but fulfilled and elevated the Law.
As therefore there is no believer, dearly-beloved,
to whom the gifts of grace are denied, so there is no one who is not a
debtor in the matter of Christian discipline; because, although the
severity of the mystic Law is done away, yet the benefits of its
voluntary observance have increased, as the evangelist John says,
“Because the Law was given through Moses, but grace and truth
came through Jesus Christ S.
VI. The present effect of Christ’s passion is daily realized by Christians, especially in Holy Baptism.
All therefore that the Son of God did and taught for the world’s reconciliation,
we not only know as a matter of past history, but appreciate in the
power of its present effect. It is He Who, born of the Virgin
Mother by the Holy Ghost, fertilizes His unpolluted Church with the
same blessed Spirit, that by
S. Cf. S. The renouncing
of the Devil and all his works and the professing of faith in
God have always preceded the rite of
Baptism: see Bright’s notes 78 and 142. Corpus regenerati
fiat caro crucifixi an almost unduly strong assertion of the
union between Christ, the Head and the members of His body, the Church
effected by Holy Baptism: see Hooker, Eccl. Pol. v. 60. 2,
quoted by Bright, n. 79.
VII. The good works of Christians are only part of Christ’s good works.
This change, dearly-beloved, is the handiwork of
the Most High Cf. ut in id, quod
sumimus, transeamus. He uses the same strong expression in
Letter LIX. 2, ut accipientes virtutem cœlestis cibi, in carnem
ipsius qui caro nostra factus est, transeamus.
Sermon LXVII.
(On the Passion, XVI.: delivered on the Sunday.)
I. The contemplation of the prophecies of Christ’s suffering are a great source of pious delight.
The minds of the faithful, beloved, ought indeed
always to be occupied with wonder at God’s works and their
reasoning faculties devoted particularly to those reflexions by which
they may gain increase of faith. For so long as the pious
heart’s attention is directed either to the benefits which all
enjoy, or to special gifts of His grace, it keeps aloof from many
vanities and retires from bodily cares into a spiritual
seclusion. But this must be the more eagerly and thoroughly done
at the season of the Lord Passion, that what
is then read in the sacred lections may surely be received with the
ears of understanding, and that the themes which are great in word may
be seen to be yet greater from the mysterious realities which underlie
them. For the first reason for our lifting up our hearts Erigendi sursum
nostri cordis the liturgical allusion is the same as that noticed
in Sermon LXXIV. 5, n. 6. The epithet
sanctus is of doubtful genuineness here. This
calculation is based apparently on that of Prosper’s
Chronicon, which again, follows that of Eusebius.
II. The Divine foreknowledge does not account for the Jews’ wickedness so as to excuse them.
Since then all things which Jewish ungodliness
committed against the Lord of Majesty were
foretold so long before There is another
reading here, ut (for et) non tam de futuris quam de
præsentibus (for præteritis) , &c.,
which the Ballerinii probably do right to reject. Trans.
“foretold so long before that the language of the prophets
is concerned not so much with the future as with the
present.”
III. Christ was in no sense the Author of His murderer’s guilt.
In fact, the case of the Crucified is so different
from that of His crucifiers that what Christ undertook could not be
reversed, while what they did could be wiped out. For He Who came
to save sinners did not refuse mercy even to His murderers, but changed
the evil of the wicked into the goodness of the believing, that
God’s grace might be the more wonderful,
being mercifully put in force, not according to men’s merits, but
according to the multitude of the riches of God’s wisdom and knowledge, seeing that they also
who had shed the Saviour’s blood were received into the baptismal
flood. For, as says the Scripture, which contains the
Apostles’ acts when the preaching of the blessed Apostle Peter
pierced the hearts of the Jews, and they acknowledged the iniquity of
their crime, saying, “what shall we do, brethren?” the same
Apostle said, “Repent and be baptized, each one of you, in the
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and ye shall
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For to you is the promise,
and to your sons, and to all that are afar off, whomsoever our
Lord God has
called,” and soon after the Scripture goes on to say:
“they therefore that received his word were baptized, and there
were added on that day about 3,000 souls Consecrando
mysteriis I think he has, as so often, the institution of the Holy
Eucharist especially in his mind together, of course, with other
sacramental ordinances (such as Holy Baptism and matrimony) which our
Saviour blessed with His sanction and made the means of holiness to His
disciples.
But O ungodliest of men, “thou seed of
Chanaan and not of Juda Apocrypha,
This last privilege
which Leo, with curious sarcasm, co-ordinates with the other three is
spoken of twice by S. John, viz. Redemptorem etiam
tuum ne tibi parceres, vendidisti. It seems to me that
Leo’s preaching power is nowhere better shown than in the
passages where he draws out the heinousness of Judas’
guilt: cf. Sermon LVIII. chaps. 3 and 4, and Sermon LXII. chap.
4.
V. Christ’s Passion was for our Redemption by mystery and example.
The fact, therefore, that at the time appointed,
according to the purpose of His will, Jesus Christ was crucified, dead,
and buried was not the doom necessary to His own condition, but the
method of redeeming us from captivity. For “the Word became
flesh” in order that from the Virgin’s womb He might take
our suffering nature, and that what could not be inflicted on the Son
of God might be inflicted on the Son of
Man. For although at His very birth the signs of Godhead shone
forth in Him, and the whole course of His bodily growth was full of
wonders, yet had He truly assumed our weaknesses, and without share in
sin had spared Himself no human frailty, that He might impart what was
His to us and heal what was ours in Himself. For He, the Almighty
Physician, had prepared a two-fold remedy for us in our misery, of
which the one part consists of mystery and the other of
example Aliud est in
sacramento, aliud in exemplo, cf. Serm. LXIII chap. 4, n. 7.
Exigantur: another reading perhaps more in keeping with
the context and Leo’s usual language is erigantur
(raised): cf. Lett. XXVIII. (Tome), chap. 3, humana augens,
divina non minuens, etc.
VI. We can only attain to Christ’s perfection by following in His steps.
Therefore, dearly-beloved, by this unspeakable
restoration of our health no place is left us for pride or for
idleness: because we have nothing which we did not
receive Cf. Cf.
VII. Christ cry of “Forsaken” on the cross was to teach us the insufficiency of the human nature without the Divine.
Hence it is that the Lord
Jesus Christ, our Head, representing all the members of His body in
Himself, and speaking for those whom He was redeeming in the punishment
of the cross, uttered that cry which He had once uttered in the psalm,
“O God, My God,
look upon Me: why hast Thou forsaken Me S.
Sermon LXVIII.
(On the Passion, XVII.: delivered on the Wednesday.)
I. Christ’s Godhead never forsook Him in His Passion.
The last discourse, dearly-beloved, of which we
desire now to give the promised portion, had reached that point in the
argument where we were speaking of that cry which the crucified
Lord uttered to the Father: we bade the
simple and unthinking hearer not take the words “My God, &c.,” in a sense as if, when Jesus was
fixed upon the wood of the cross, the Omnipotence of the Father’s
Deity had gone away from Him; seeing that God’s and Man’s Nature were so completely
joined in Him that the union could not be destroyed by punishment nor
by death. For while each substance retained its own properties,
God neither held aloof from the suffering of
His body nor was made passible by the flesh, because the Godhead which
was in the Sufferer did not actually suffer. And hence, in
accordance with the Nature of the Word made Man, He Who was made in the
midst of all is the same as He through Whom all things were made.
He Who is arrested by the hands of wicked men is the same as He Who is
bound by no limits. He Who is pierced with nails is the same as
He Whom no wound can affect. Finally, He Who underwent death is
the same as He Who never ceased to be eternal, so that both facts are
established by indubitable signs, namely, the truth of the humiliation
in Christ and the truth of the majesty; because Divine power joined
itself to human frailty to this end, that God,
while making what was ours His, might at the same time make what was
His ours. The Son, therefore, was not separated from the Father,
nor the Father from the Son; and the unchangeable Godhead and the
inseparable Trinity did not admit of any division. For although
the task of undergoing Incarnation belonged peculiarly to the
Only-begotten Son of God, yet the Father was
not separated from the Son any more than the flesh was separated from
the Word For the doctrine
here stated, cf. Serm. LI., chap. vi.
II. Christ’s death was voluntary on His part, and yet in saving others He could not save Himself.
Jesus, therefore, cried with a loud voice, saying,
“Why hast Thou forsaken Me?” in order to notify to all how
it behoved Him not to be rescued, not to be defended, but to be given
up into the hands of cruel men, that is to become the Saviour of the
world and the Redeemer of all men, not by misery but by mercy; and not
by the failure of succour but by the determination to die. But
what must we feel to be the intercessory power of His life Who died and
rose again by His own inherent power. Quæ vero
illic vitæ intercessio sentienda est, ubi anima et potestate est
emissa et potestate revocata? If we adopt Quesnel’s
conjecture intercisio for intercessio the meaning is I
suppose, “What cutting off of the thread of life is conceivable
in His case Who &c.?” S.
III. A transition was then being effected from the Old to the New Dispensation.
Therefore the insults of empty exultation were
scorned, and the Lord’s mercy in
restoring the lost and the fallen was not turned from the path of its
purpose by contumely or reviling. For a peerless victim was being
offered to God for the world’s
salvation, and the slaying of Christ the true Lamb, predicted through
so many ages, was transferring the sons of promise into the liberty of
the Faith. The New Testament also was being ratified, and in the
blood of Christ the heirs of the eternal Kingdom were being enrolled;
the High Pontiff was entering the Holy of Holies, and to intercede with
God the spotless Priest was passing in through
the veil of His flesh Cf. The older editions
here add quæ Deus est (which is God), which however both Quesnel and the Ball. reject as a
marginal gloss. Cf. Cf.
IV. Let us profit by fasting and good works at this sacred season of the year.
Because, then, the Jews, deprived of all the
sanctification imparted by these mysteries, turned their light into
darkness and their “feasts into mourning Cf. Cf.
Sermon LXXI.
(On the Lord’s Resurrection, I.;
delivered on Holy Saturday in the Vigil of Easter The time of delivery
of this and the next Sermons was first identified by Quesnel with
Easter Eve: for a most instructive note on the ceremonies of that
day in early times, see Bright’s n. 102.
I. We must all be partakers in Christ’s resurrection life.
In my last sermon Viz. Serm. LXX. in
which (chap 6) he had promised to continue the subject (superest ut
de resurrectionis consortio disseramus: quod ne continuato
sermone et mihi et vobis fiat onerosum, in diem sabbati promissa
differemus). Acc. to Bright
(n. 103), “As to the duration of Lent, there was anciently much
diversity.…Although it was not until the time of Gregory II.
(715–731) that it became strictly a forty days’
fast, there is no doubt that in the fourth century if not earlier a
period was generally observed which might be called ‘forty
days.’” Cf. S.
II. God did not leave His soul in hell, nor suffer His flesh to see corruption.
Accordingly, since the Apostle says, “the
first man is of the earth earthy, the second man is from heaven
heavenly. As is the earthy, such also are they that are earthy;
and as is the heavenly, such also are they that are heavenly. As
we have borne the image of the earthy, so let us also bear the image of
Him Who is from heaven Cf. Serm. LXX.
chap. 3, nisi enim Verbum caro fieret, et tam solida consisteret
unitas in utraque natura, ut a suscipiente susceptam nec ipsum breve
mortis tempus abiungeret, nunquam valeret ad æternitatem redire
mortalitas. Bright (n. 96) quotes authorities ancient and
more recent to show that this has always been the Christian’s
belief.
III. Christ’s manifestation after the Resurrection showed that His Person was essentially the same as before.
And then there followed many proofs, whereon the
authority of the Faith to be preached through the whole world might be
based. And although the rolling away of the stone, the empty
tomb, the arrangement of the linen cloths, and the angels who narrated
the whole deed by themselves fully built up the truth of the
Lord’s Resurrection, yet did He often
appear plainly to the eyes both of the women and of the
Apostles From this point to
the end of the chapter the language is almost identical with a passage
in Letter XXVIII. (Tome), chap. 5.
IV. But though it is the same, it is also glorified.
The Apostle of the Gentiles, Paul, dearly-beloved,
does not disagree with this belief, when he says, “even though we
have known Christ after the flesh, yet now we know Him so no
more
V. Being saved by hope, we must not fulfil the lusts of the flesh.
Let us not then be taken up with the appearances
of temporal matters, neither let our contemplations be diverted from
heavenly to earthly things. Things which as yet have for the most
part not come to pass must be reckoned as accomplished: and the
mind intent on what is permanent must fix its desires there, where what
is offered is eternal. For although “by hope we were
saved Cf. Serm. XIX. chap.
1.
VI. Our godly resolutions must continue all the year round, not be confined to Easter only.
Let God’s people
then recognize that they are a new creation in Christ, and with all
vigilance understand by Whom they have been adopted and Whom they have
adopted Quo suscepta sit
(sc. nova creatura) quemve susceperit, i.e. Christ has
taken on Him human nature, and we by virtue thereof are partakers of
the Divine. S.
Sermon LXXII.
(On the Lord’s Resurrection, II.)
I. The Cross is not only the mystery of salvation, but an example to follow.
The whole of the Easter mystery, dearly-beloved,
has been brought before us in the Gospel narrative, and the ears of the
mind have been so reached through the ear of flesh that none of you can
fail to have a picture of the events: for the text of the
Divinely-inspired story has clearly shown the treachery of the
Lord Jesus Christ’s betrayal, the
judgment by which He was condemned, the barbarity of His crucifixion,
and glory of His resurrection. But a sermon is still required of
us, that the priests’ exhortation may be added to the solemn
reading of Holy Writ, as I am sure you are with pious expectation
demanding of us as your accustomed due. Because therefore there
is no place for ignorance in faithful ears, the seed of the Word which
consists of the preaching of the Gospel, ought to grow in the soil of
your heart, so that, when choking thorns and thistles have been
removed, the plants of holy thoughts and the buds of right desires may
spring up freely into fruit. For the cross of Christ, which was
set up for the salvation of mortals, is both a mystery and an
example Cf. Serm. LXIII. 4,
above: Salvator noster—et sacramentum condidit et
exemplum: ut unum apprehenderent renascendo, alterum sequerentur
imitando. S.
II. Christ took our nature upon Him for our salvation.
For when the whole body of mankind had fallen in
our first parents, the merciful God purposed
so to succour, through His only-begotten Jesus Christ, His creatures
made after His image, that the restoration of our nature should not be
effected apart from it, and that our new estate should be an advance
upon our original position. Happy, if we had not fallen from that
which God made us; but happier, if we remain
that which He has re-made us. It was much to have received form
from Christ; it is more to have a substance in Christ i.e. that both of the
two natures in Christ should be ours, as he goes on to show. The words in brackets
are of doubtful genuineness, and seem in themselves a mediæval
imitation of Leo’s style. Sacramentum
pietatis, the regular Latin version of
Celerrimam. The epithet spoils the argument, and is
probably an interpolation. Cf. however Serm. LXXI. chap. 2,
above.
III. The presence of the risen and ascended Lord is still with us.
And so, dearly-beloved, if we unhesitatingly
believe with the heart what we profess with the mouth, in Christ we are
crucified, we are dead, we are buried; on the very third day, too, we
are raised. Hence the Apostle says, “If ye have risen with
Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting on
God’s right hand: set your
affections on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye
are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. For when Christ, your life, shall have
appeared, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory S.
IV. We must have the same mind as was in Christ Jesus.
We must not, therefore, indulge in folly amid vain
pursuits, nor give way to fear in the midst of adversities. On
the one side, no doubt, we are flattered by deceits, and on the other
weighed down by troubles; but because “the earth is full of the
mercy of the Lord S. Cf.
V. Only he who holds the truth on the Incarnation can keep Easter properly.
Imitate what He wrought: love what He loved,
and finding in you the Grace of God, love in
Him your nature in return, since as He was not dispossessed of riches
in poverty, lessened not glory in humility, lost not eternity in death,
so do ye, too, treading in His footsteps, despise earthly things that
ye may gain heavenly: for the taking up of the cross means the
slaying of lusts, the killing of vices, the turning away from vanity,
and the renunciation of all error. For, though the Lord’s Passover can be kept by no immodest,
self-indulgent, proud, or miserly person, yet none are held so far
aloof from this festival as heretics, and especially those who have
wrong views on the Incarnation of the Word, either disparaging what
belongs to the Godhead or treating what is of the flesh as
unreal. For the Son of God is true
God, having from the Father all that the
Father is, with no beginning in time, subject to no sort of change,
undivided from the One God, not different from
the Almighty, the eternal Only-begotten of the eternal Father; so that
the faithful intellect believing in the Father and the Son and the Holy
Ghost in the same essence of the one Godhead, neither divides the Unity
by suggesting degrees of dignity, nor confounds the Trinity by merging
the Persons in one. But it is not enough to know the Son of
God in the Father’s nature
Much the same
language is used in Lett. XXVIII. (Tome) 3 and Serm. XXIII. 2.
VI. A mystical application of the term “Passover” is given.
For which reason the very feast which by us is
named Pascha, among the Hebrews is called Phase, that is
Pass-over Phase id
transitus dicitur, cf. the Vulgate, S. S.
VII. Only true believers can keep the Easter Festival.
In this union they can have no share who deny that
in the Son of God, Himself true God, man’s nature abides, assailing the
health-giving mystery and shutting themselves out from the Easter
festival. For, as they dissent from the Gospel and gainsay the
creed, they cannot keep it with us, because although they dare to take
to themselves the Christian name, yet they are repelled by every
creature who has Christ for his Head: for you rightly exult and
devoutly rejoice in this sacred season as those who, admitting no
falsehood into the Truth, have no doubt about Christ’s Birth
according to the flesh, His Passion and Death, and the Resurrection of
His body: inasmuch as without any separation of the Godhead you
acknowledge a Christ, Who was truly born of a Virgin’s womb,
truly hung on the wood of the cross, truly laid in an earthly tomb,
truly raised in glory, truly set on the right hand of the
Father’s majesty; “whence also,” as the Apostle says,
“we look for a Saviour our Lord Jesus
Christ. Who shall refashion the body of our humility to become
conformed to the body of His glory
Sermon LXXIII.
(On the Lord’s Ascension, I.)
I. The events recorded as happening after the Resurrection were intended to convince us of its truth.
Since the blessed and glorious Resurrection of our
Lord Jesus Christ, whereby the Divine power in
three days raised the true Temple of God,
which the wickedness of the Jews had overthrown, the sacred forty days,
dearly-beloved, are to-day ended, which by most holy appointment were
devoted to our most profitable instruction, so that, during the period
that the Lord thus protracted the lingering of
His bodily presence, our faith in the Resurrection might be fortified
by needful proofs. For Christ’s Death had much disturbed
the disciples’ hearts, and a kind of torpor of distrust had crept
over their grief-laden minds at His torture on the cross, at His giving
up the ghost, at His lifeless body’s burial. For, when the
holy women, as the Gospel-story has revealed, brought word of the stone
rolled away from the tomb, the sepulchre emptied of the body, and the
angels bearing witness to the living Lord,
their words seemed like ravings to the Apostles and other
disciples. Which doubtfulness, the result of human weakness, the
Spirit of Truth would most assuredly not have permitted to exist in His
own preacher’s breasts, had not their trembling anxiety and
careful hesitation laid the foundations of our faith. It was
our
II. And therefore they are in the highest degree instructive.
Those days, therefore, dearly-beloved, which
intervened between the Lord’s
Resurrection and Ascension did not pass by in uneventful leisure, but
great mysteries
Sacramenta—mysteria.
Sacramenta—mysteria.
III. They prove the Resurrection of the flesh.
And in the course of these and other miracles,
when the disciples were harassed by bewildering thoughts, and the
Lord had appeared in their midst and said,
“Peace be unto you
IV. Christ’s ascension has given us greater privileges and joys than the devil had taken from us.
Accordingly, dearly-beloved, throughout this time which elapsed between the Lord’s Resurrection and Ascension, God’s Providence had this in view, to teach and impress upon both the eyes and hearts of His own people that the Lord Jesus Christ might be acknowledged to have as truly risen, as He was truly born, suffered, and died. And hence the most blessed Apostles and all the disciples, who had been both bewildered at His death on the cross and backward in believing His Resurrection, were so strengthened by the clearness of the truth that when the Lord entered the heights of heaven, not only were they affected with no sadness, but were even filled with great joy. And truly great and unspeakable was their cause for joy, when in the sight of the holy multitude, above the dignity of all heavenly creatures, the Nature of mankind went up, to pass above the angels’ ranks and to rise beyond the archangels’ heights, and to have Its uplifting limited by no elevation until, received to sit with the Eternal Father, It should be associated on the throne with His glory, to Whose Nature It was united in the Son. Since then Christ’s Ascension is our uplifting, and the hope of the Body is raised, whither the glory of the Head has gone before, let us exult, dearly-beloved, with worthy joy and delight in the loyal paying of thanks. For to-day not only are we confirmed as possessors of paradise, but have also in Christ penetrated the heights of heaven, and have gained still greater things through Christ’s unspeakable grace than we had lost through the devil’s malice. For us, whom our virulent enemy had driven out from the bliss of our first abode, the Son of God has made members of Himself and placed at the right hand of the Father, with Whom He lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.
Sermon LXXIV.
(On the Lord’s Ascension, II.)
I. The Ascension completes our faith in Him, who was God as well as man.
The mystery of our salvation, dearly-beloved, which the
Creator of the universe valued at the price of His blood, has now been
carried out under conditions of humiliation from the day of His bodily
birth to the end of His
S.
II. The Ascension renders our faith more excellent and stronger.
In order, therefore, dearly-beloved, that we may
be capable of this blessedness, when all things were fulfilled which
concerned the Gospel preaching and the mysteries of the New Testament,
our Lord Jesus Christ, on the fortieth day
after the Resurrection in the presence of the disciples, was raised
into heaven, and terminated His presence with us in the body, to abide
on the Father’s right hand until the times Divinely fore-ordained
for multiplying the sons of the Church are accomplished, and He comes
to judge the living and the dead in the same flesh in which He
ascended. And so that which till then was visible of our Redeemer
was changed into a sacramental presence In sacramenta
transivit, i.e. Christ’s presence is now vouchsafed us only
after a spiritual manner in His sacraments and means of grace.
III. The marvellous effects of this faith on all.
This Faith, increased by the Lord’s Ascension and established by the gift of the Holy Ghost, was not terrified by bonds, imprisonments, banishments, hunger, fire, attacks by wild beasts, refined torments of cruel persecutors. For this Faith throughout the world not only men, but even women, not only beardless boys, but even tender maids, fought to the shedding of their blood. This Faith cast out spirits, drove off sicknesses, raised the dead: and through it the blessed Apostles themselves also, who after being confirmed by so many miracles and instructed by so many discourses, had yet been panic-stricken by the horrors of the Lord’s Passion and had not accepted the truth of His resurrection without hesitation, made such progress after the Lord’s Ascension that everything which had previously filled them with fear was turned into joy. For they had lifted the whole contemplation of their mind to the Godhead of Him that sat at the Father’s right hand, and were no longer hindered by the barrier of corporeal sight from directing their minds’ gaze to That Which had never quitted the Father’s side in descending to earth, and had not forsaken the disciples in ascending to heaven.
IV. His Ascension refines our Faith: the ministering of angels to Him shows the extent of His authority.
The Son of Man and Son of God, therefore, dearly-beloved, then attained a more
excellent and holier fame, when He betook Himself back to the glory of
the Father’s Majesty, and in an ineffable manner began to be
nearer to the Father in respect of His Godhead, after having become
farther away in respect of His manhood. A better instructed faith
then began to draw closer to a conception of the Son’s equality
with the Father without the necessity of handling the corporeal
substance in Christ, whereby He is less than the Father, since, while
the Nature of the glorified Body still remained the faith of believers
was called upon
S.
V. We must despise earthly things and rise to things above, especially by active works of mercy and love.
And so, dearly-beloved, let us rejoice with
spiritual joy, and let us with gladness pay God worthy thanks and raise our hearts’ eyes
unimpeded to those heights where Christ is. Minds that have heard
the call to be uplifted must not be pressed down by earthly
affections Sursum vocatos
animos. The allusion no doubt is to the V. Sursum
corda. R. habemus ad Dominum, with which the Church
Liturgy has always ushered us into the most solemn part of the
Eucharistic worship ( Cf. Cf.
Sermon LXXV.
(On Whitsuntide, I.)
I. The giving of the Law by Moses prepared the way for the outpouring of the Holy Ghost.
The hearts of all catholics, beloved, realize that
to-day’s solemnity is to be honoured as one of the chief feasts,
nor is there any doubt that great respect is due to this day, which the
Holy Spirit has hallowed by the miracle of His most excellent
gift. For from the day on which the Lord
ascended up above all heavenly heights to sit down at God the
In eo (Sc.
die) a quo cœpit (Sc. festum),
apparently an obscure way of saying that the first Whitsunday was the
same day of the week (viz. the first) as the first
Easter-day.
II. How marvellous was the gift of “divers tongues.”
For as the Apostles’ story testifies:
“while the days of Pentecost were fulfilled and all the disciples
were together in the same place, there occurred suddenly from heaven a
sound as of a violent wind coming, and filled the whole house where
they were sitting. And there appeared to them divided tongues as
of fire and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled
with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the
Holy Spirit gave them utterance Cf. Cf.
III. The three Persons in the Trinity are perfectly equal in all things.
But although, dearly-beloved, the actual form of
the thing done was exceeding wonderful, and undoubtedly in that
exultant chorus of all human languages the Majesty of the Holy Spirit
was present, yet no one must think that His Divine substance appeared
in what was seen with bodily eyes. For His Nature, which is
invisible and shared in common with the Father and the Son, showed the
character of His gift and work by the outward sign that pleased Him,
but kept His essential property within His own Godhead: because
human sight can no more perceive the Holy Ghost than it can the Father
or the Son. For in the Divine Trinity nothing is unlike or
unequal, and all that can be thought concerning Its substance admits of
no diversity either in power or glory or eternity. And while in
the property of each Person the Father is one, the Son is another, and
the Holy Ghost is another, yet the Godhead is not distinct and
different; for whilst the Son is the Only begotten of the Father, the
Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father and the Son, not in the way
that every creature is the creature of the Father and the Son, but as
living and having power with Both, and eternally subsisting of That
Which is the Father and the Son For this
statement of the doctrine of the Trinity, esp. in regard to the Twofold
Procession of the Holy Ghost, cf. Lett. XV. chap. 2. Bright
quotes Swete’s History of the Doctrine, p. 157. S. Cf. Serm. XXVIII.
chap. 4, cum gradus in vera Divinitate esse non possit, and
Serm. LXXII. chap. 5, nec Unitatem gradibus dividat, and
Bright’s notes 29 and 116 on the subject.
IV. The Macedonian heresy is as blasphemous as the Arian.
As therefore we abhor the Arians, who maintain a
difference between the Father and the Son, so also we abhor the
Macedonians “Arianism
had spoken both of the Son and the Holy Spirit as creatures. The
Macedonians, rising up out of Semi-arianism, gradually reached the
Church’s belief as to the uncreated Majesty of the Son, even if
they retained their objection to the Homoousion. But having, in
their previously Semi-arian position, refused to extend their own
Homoi-ousion to the Holy Spirit, they afterwards persisted in regarding
Him ‘as external to the one indivisible
Godhead.’” Newman’s Arians, p.
226. Bright’s n. 129. Macodonius, from whom the sect
was named, was bp. of Constantinople alternately with his rival, the
orthodox Paul, between 342 and 351, and from that date he held the See
in full possession till 360, when he was finally deposed. S.
V. The Spirit’s work is still continued in the Church.
By these and other numberless proofs, dearly-beloved, with which the authority of the Divine utterances is ablaze, let us with one mind be incited to pay reverence to Whitsuntide, exulting in honour of the Holy Ghost, through Whom the whole catholic Church is sanctified, and every rational soul quickened; Who is the Inspirer of the Faith, the Teacher of Knowledge, the Fount of Love, the Seal of Chastity, and the Cause of all Power. Let the minds of the faithful rejoice, that throughout the world One God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, is praised by the confession of all tongues, and that that sign of His Presence, which appeared in the likeness of fire, is still perpetuated in His work and gift. For the Spirit of Truth Himself makes the house of His glory shine with the brightness of His light, and will have nothing dark nor lukewarm in His temple. And it is through His aid and teaching also that the purification of fasts and alms has been established among us. For this venerable day is followed by a most wholesome practice, which all the saints have ever found most profitable to them, and to the diligent observance of which we exhort you with a shepherd’s care, to the end that if any blemish has been contracted in the days just passed through heedless negligence, it may be atoned for by the discipline of fasting and corrected by pious devotion. On Wednesday and Friday, therefore, let us fast, and on Saturday for this very purpose keep vigil with accustomed devotion, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who with the Father and the Holy Ghost lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.
Sermon LXXVII.
(On Whitsuntide, III.)
I. The Holy Ghost’s work did not begin at Pentecost, but was continued because the Holy Trinity is One in action and in will.
To-day’s festival, dearly-beloved, which is
held in reverence by the whole world, has been hallowed by that advent
of the Holy Ghost, which on the fiftieth day after the Lord’s Resurrection, descended on the Apostles and
the multitude of believers Bright (n. 133)
quotes Aug. (in Joan. Evan. Tr. 92, c. 1 and Serm. 267, 1) for the
opinion, which Leo here seems to follow, that the “all” of
II. Each Person in the Trinity took part in our Redemption.
The fact, therefore, that, with the co-operation
of the inseparable Godhead still perfect, certain things are performed
by the Father, certain by the Son, and certain by the Holy Spirit, in
particular belongs to the ordering of our Redemption and the method of
our salvation. For if man, made after the image and likeness of
God, had retained the dignity of his own
nature, and had not been deceived by the devil’s wiles into
transgressing through lust the law laid down for him, the Creator of
the world would not have become a Creature, the Eternal would not have
entered the sphere of time, nor God the Son,
Who is equal with God the Father, have assumed
the form of a slave and the likeness of sinful flesh. But because
“by the devil’s malice death entered into the
world “The
Atonement is a reconciling not merely of man to God but of God to man,”
says Archbp. Trench, and that, as S. Thomas Aquinas explains, in regard
to our sins not in regard to our nature, in which regard He always
loves us (passages quoted by Bright, n. 54).
III. But this apportionment of functions does not mar the Unity of the Trinity.
If, therefore, under guiding grace, dearly-beloved, we faithfully and wisely understand what is the particular work of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and what is common to the Three in our restoration, we shall without doubt so accept what has been wrought for us by humiliation and in the body as to think nothing unworthy about the One and Selfsame Glory of the Trinity. For although no mind is competent to think, no tongue to speak about God, yet whatever that is which the human intellect apprehends about the essence of the Father’s Godhead, unless one and the selfsame truth is held concerning His Only-begotten or the Holy Spirit, our meditations are disloyal, and beclouded by the intrusions of the flesh, and even that is lost, which seemed a right conclusion concerning the Father, because the whole Trinity is forsaken, if the Unity therein is not maintained; and That Which is different by any inequality can in no true sense be One.
IV. In thinking upon God, we must put aside all material notions.
When, therefore, we fix our minds on confessing
the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, let us keep far from our
thoughts the forms of things visible, the ages of beings born in time,
and all material bodies and places. Let that which is extended in
space, that which is enclosed by limit, and whatever is not always
everywhere and entire be banished from the heart. The conception
of the Triune Godhead must put aside the idea of interval or of
grade See Serm. LXXV. chap.
3, n. 3. See Serm. XXIII.
chap. 2.
V. Christ as Man is less than the Father, as God co-equal.
The Lord Jesus does,
indeed, say to His disciples, as was read in the Gospel lection,
“if ye loved Me, ye would assuredly rejoice, because I go to the
Father, because the Father is greater than I S. S. S. Vadat (subj.);
others read vadit (indic.) = goes, in which case Christ is still
imagined to be speaking. If we read vadat, His utterance
ends with the last sentence.
VI. And this equality which the Son has with the Father, the Holy Ghost also has.
Accordingly, dearly-beloved, let us despise the
vain and blind cunning of ungodly heretics, which flatters itself over
its crooked interpretation of this sentence, and when the Lord says, “All things that the Father hath are
Mine S.
Sermon LXXVIII.
(On the Whitsuntide Fast, I.)
I. Since the Apostles’ day till now self-restraint is the best defence against the Devil’s assaults.
To-day’s festival, dearly-beloved, hallowed
by the descent of the Holy Ghost, is followed, as you know by a solemn
fast, which being a salutary institution for the healing of soul and
body, we must keep with devout observance. For when the Apostles
had been filled with the promised power, and the Spirit of Truth had
entered their hearts, we doubt not that among the other mysteries of
heavenly doctrine this discipline of spiritual self-restraint was first
thought of at the prompting of the Paraclete in order that minds
sanctified by fasting might be fitter for the chrism to be bestowed on
them Cf. note 9 on Lett.
CLVI. chap. 5.
And so those teachers, who have instructed all the
Church’s sons by their examples and their traditions, began the
rudiments of the Christian warfare with holy fasts, that, having to
fight against spiritual wickednesses, they might take the armour of
abstinence, wherewith to slay the incentives to vice. For
invisible foes and incorporeal enemies will have no strength against
us, if we be not entangled in any lusts of the flesh. The desire
to hurt us is indeed ever active in the tempter, but he will be
disarmed and powerless, if he find no vantage ground within us from
which to attack us. But who, encompassed with this frail flesh,
and placed in this body of death, even one who has made much decided
progress, can be so sure of his safety now, as to believe himself free
from the peril of all allurements? Although Divine Grace gives
daily victory to His saints Cf. Serm. LXXXVIII.
chap. 3, licet quotidiano Dei munere a diversis contaminationibus
emundemur, inhærent tamen incautis animis maculæ crassiores
quas oporteat diligentiori cura ablui.
III. And so this fast comes very opportunely after the feast of Whitsuntide.
Therefore, after the days of holy gladness, which we have devoted to the honour of the Lord rising from the dead and then ascending into heaven, and after receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, a fast is ordained as a wholesome and needful practice, so that, if perchance through neglect or disorder even amid the joys of the festival any undue licence has broken out, it may be corrected by the remedy of strict abstinence, which must be the more scrupulously carried out in order that what was on this day Divinely bestowed on the Church may abide in us. For being made the Temple of the Holy Ghost, and watered with a greater supply than ever of the Divine Stream, we ought not to be conquered by any lusts nor held in possession by any vices in order that the habitation of Divine power may be stained with no pollution.
IV. And by proper use of it we shall win God’s favour.
And this assuredly it is possible for all to
obtain, God helping and guiding us, if by the
purification of fasting and by merciful liberality, we take pains to be
set free from the filth of sins, and to be rich in the fruits of
love. For whatever is spent in feeding the poor, in healing the
sick, in ransoming prisoners, or in any other deeds of piety, is not
lessened but increased, nor will that ever be lost in the sight of
God which the loving-kindness of the faithful
has expended, seeing that whatever a man gives in relief, he lays up
for his own reward. For “blessed are the merciful, since
God shall have mercy on them S.
Sermon LXXXII.
On the Feast Natali, lit.
birthday; but the early Church gave this beautiful name to, and kept
the memory of Saints on, the day of their death (cf. below, in die
martyrii eorum) in all cases except that of S. John the
Baptist (from the importance of his natural birthday in connexion with
the Lord’s Nativity). The
Conversion of S. Paul is a later exception.
I. Rome owes its high position to these Apostles.
The whole world, dearly-beloved, does indeed take
part in all holy anniversaries, and loyalty to the one Faith demands
that whatever is recorded as done for all men’s salvation should
be everywhere celebrated with common rejoicings. But, besides
that reverence which to-day’s festival has gained from all the
world, it is to be honoured with special and peculiar exultation in our
city, that there may be a predominance of gladness on the day of their
martyrdom in the place where the chief of the Apostles met their
glorious end It is of course well
known that this is very debatable ground, and as such, it is wiser to
leave it untouched in a work which is only intended as a means of
rendering English-speaking people acquainted with Leo’s views and
statements. It will be noticed however, that the historically
verified connexion of S. Paul with Rome is as nothing in his eyes in
comparison with the very apocryphal connexion of S. Peter: cf.
below, per sacram beati Petri sedem, on which the Ballerinii
very appropriately quote Prosper de Ingratis:— Sedes Roma Petri, quæ pastoralis
honore facta caput mundo, quidquid non possidet
armis religione tenet. The Roman Calendar still retains the double
commemoration on June 29. i.e. Romulus (the
traditional founder of Rome) murdered his brother, Remus. Cf.
II. The extension of the Roman empire was part of the Divine scheme.
For the good, just, and Almighty God, Who has never withheld His mercy from mankind, and has ever instructed all men alike in the knowledge of Himself by the most abundant benefits, has by a more secret counsel and a deeper love shown pity upon the wanderers’ voluntary blindness and proclivities to evil, by sending His co-equal and co-eternal Word. Which becoming flesh so united the Divine Nature with the human that He by lowering His Nature to the uttermost has raised our nature to the highest. But that the result of this unspeakable Grace might be spread abroad throughout the world, God’s Providence made ready the Roman empire, whose growth has reached such limits that the whole multitude of nations are brought into close connexion. For the Divinely-planned work particularly required that many kingdoms should be leagued together under one empire, so that the preaching of the world might quickly reach to all people, when they were held beneath the rule of one state. And yet that state, in ignorance of the Author of its aggrandisement though it rule almost all nations, was enthralled by the errors of them all, and seemed to itself to have fostered religion greatly, because it rejected no falsehood. And hence its emancipation through Christ was the more wondrous that it had been so fast bound by Satan.
III. On the dispersing of the Twelve, St. Peter was sent to Rome.
For when the twelve Apostles, after receiving through the Holy Ghost the power of speaking with all tongues, had distributed the world into parts among themselves, and undertaken to instruct it in the Gospel, the most blessed Peter, chief of the Apostolic band, was appointed to the citadel of the Roman empire, that the light of Truth which was being displayed for the salvation of all the nations, might spread itself more effectively throughout the body of the world from the head itself. What nation had not representatives then living in this city; or what peoples did not know what Rome had learnt? Here it was that the tenets of philosophy must be crushed, here that the follies of earthly wisdom must be dispelled, here that the cult of demons must be refuted, here that the blasphemy of all idolatries must be rooted out, here where the most persistent superstition had gathered together all the various errors which had anywhere been devised.
IV. St. Peter’s love conquered his fears in coming to Rome.
To this city then, most blessed Apostle Peter, thou dost not fear to come, and when the Apostle Paul, the partner of thy glory, was still busied with regulating other churches, didst enter this forest of roaring beasts, this deep, stormy ocean with greater boldness than when thou didst walk upon the sea. And thou who hadst been frightened by the high priest’s maid in the house of Caiaphas, hadst no fear of Rome the mistress of the world. Was there any less power in Claudius, any less cruelty in Nero than in the judgment of Pilate or the Jews’ savage rage? So then it was the force of love that conquered the reasons for fear: and thou didst not think those to be feared whom thou hadst undertaken to love. But this feeling of fearless affection thou hadst even then surely conceived when the profession of thy love for the Lord was confirmed by the mystery of the thrice-repeated question. And nothing else was demanded of this thy earnest purpose than that thou shouldst bestow the food wherewith thou hadst thyself been enriched, on feeding His sheep whom thou didst love.
V. S. Peter was providentially prepared for his great mission.
Thy confidence also was increased by many miraculous
signs, by many gifts of grace, by many proofs of power. Thou
hadst already taught the people, who from the number of the circumcised
had believed: thou hadst already founded the Church at Antioch,
where first the dignity of the Christian name arose: thou hadst
already instructed Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, in
the laws of the Gospel-message: and, without doubt as to the
success of the work, with full knowledge of the short span of thy life
didst carry
VI. Many noble martyrs have sprung from the blood of SS. Peter and Paul.
Thither came also thy blessed brother-Apostle
Paul, “the vessel of election This is a
commonplace with the Fathers: S. Augustine is esp. fond of it;
Hurter quotes from him de catech. rud. chap. xxiv. and four
times on the Psalms. Cf. Serm. XXXVI. chap. iii. n. 1.
VII. No distinction must be drawn between the merits of the two.
And over this band, dearly-beloved, whom
God has set forth for our example in patience
and for our confirmation in the Faith, there must be rejoicing
everywhere in the commemoration of all the saints, but of these two
Fathers’ excellence we must rightly make our boast in louder joy,
for God’s Grace has raised them to so
high a place among the members of the Church, that He has set them like
the twin light of the eyes in the body, whose Head is Christ.
About their merits and virtues, which pass all power of speech, we must
not make distinctions, because they were equal in their
election Electio
pares (fecit) omitted by the oldest Vatican
ms. but undoubtedly genuine, the allusion
being obviously to S. Paul’s claim to equal apostleship with the
Twelve more than once advanced (e.g.
Sermon LXXXIV There is some
doubt as to the exact occasion of this sermon. It seems to have
been connected with the yearly commemoration (not the first or second
from the language Leo uses), of that 14 days’ pillage of Rome by
Genseric (in 455) and of the city’s subsequent liberation, in
which Leo took so important a part. But the date ascribed to the
sermon’s delivery (the octave of SS. Peter and Paul, i.e. July 6)
does not tally well with its allusions to the ludi Circenses as
counter-attractions to the recent Church functions. A reference
to Serm. IX. n. 6, will remind the reader that it was the ludi
Apollinares that, at least in the past, were associated with that
date: perhaps Leo’s phrase ludus Circensium is
only a general description and would include the Apollinarian games as
being still held in Circo as well as others.
The ludi Circenses themselves were held Sept. 4–12.
Concerning the Neglect of the Commemoration.
I. The Churchmen of Rome are in danger of forgetting past judgments and mercies, and becoming ungrateful to God.
The fewness of those who were present has of
itself shown, dearly-beloved, that the religious devotion wherewith, in
commemoration of the day of our chastisement and release, the whole
body of the faithful used to flock together in order to give
God thanks, has on this last occasion been
almost entirely neglected: and this has caused me much sadness of
heart and great fear. For there is much danger of men becoming
ungrateful to God, and through forgetfulness
of His benefits not feeling sorrow for the chastisement, nor joy for
the liberation. Accordingly I fear, dearly-beloved, lest that
utterance of the Prophet be addressed in rebuke to such men, which
says, “thou hast scourged them and they have not grieved:
thou hast chastised them, and they have refused to receive
correction. Martyria,
which the Ball. here consider means the churches built in honour (? on
the scene) of the martyrdoms.
II. Let them avail themselves betimes of God’s long-suffering and return to Him.
I entreat you, beloved, let those words of the
Saviour touch your hearts, Who, when by the power of His mercy He had
cleansed ten lepers, said that only one of them all had returned to
give thanks Cf. S.
Sermon LXXXV.
On the Feast of S. Laurence the
Martyr S. Laurence was
the chief Deacon in the time of Sextus II., and was martyred in the
persecution of Valerian, 258, in the way detailed by Leo in this
Sermon. His was a very favourite festival in the Middle Ages both
in the East and West.
I. The example of the martyrs is most valuable.
Whilst the height of all virtues, dearly-beloved,
and the fulness of all righteousness is born of that love, wherewith
God and one’s neighbour is loved, surely
in none is this love found more conspicuous and brighter than in the
blessed martyrs; who are as near to our Lord
Jesus, Who died for all men, in the imitation of His love, as in the
likeness of their suffering. For, although that Love, wherewith
the Lord has redeemed us, cannot be equalled
by any man’s kindness, because it is one thing that a man who is
doomed to die one day should die for a righteous man, and another that
One Who is free from the debt of sin should lay down His life for the
wicked Cf.
II. The Saint’s martyrdom described.
And how gloriously strong in this most excellent
manner of doctrine the blessed martyr Laurentius is, by whose
sufferings to-day is marked, even his persecutors were able to feel,
when they found that his wondrous courage, born principally of love for
Christ, not only did not yield itself, but also strengthened others by
the example of his endurance. For when the fury of the gentile
potentates was raging against Christ’s most chosen members, and
attacked those especially who were of priestly rank, the wicked
persecutor’s wrath was vented on Laurentius the deacon, who was
pre-eminent not only in the performance of the sacred rites, but also
in the management of the church’s property It will be
remembered that “the serving of tables” was from the first
institution of the office one of the principal duties of the deacon
(levita), see
III. The description of his sufferings continued.
The baffled plunderer, therefore, frets, and blazing out
into hatred of a religion, which had put riches to such a use,
determines to
Depositum,
viz. his faith, the παραθήκη of
Per cratem
ferream usually represented in pictures, or statues of the saints
as a gridiron.
IV. Laurentius has conquered his persecutor.
Thou gainest nothing, thou prevailest nothing, O
savage cruelty. His mortal frame is released from thy devices,
and, when Laurentius departs to heaven, thou art vanquished. The
flame of Christ’s love could not be overcome by thy flames, and
the fire which burnt outside was less keen than that which blazed
within. Thou didst but serve the martyr in thy rage, O
persecutor: thou didst but swell the reward in adding to the
pain. For what did thy cunning devise, which did not redound to
the conqueror’s glory, when even the instruments of torture were
counted as part of the triumph? Let us rejoice, then,
dearly-beloved, with spiritual joy, and make our boast over the happy
end of this illustrious man in the Lord, Who
is “wonderful in His saints Cf. Sermon
LXXXII. c. 7.
Sermon LXXXVIII.
On the Fast of the Seventh Month,
III That is the
September, or as we should now say, the Michaelmas Embertide.
I. The Fasts, which the ancient prophets proclaimed, are still necessary.
Of what avail, dearly-beloved, are religious fasts
in winning the mercy of God, and in renewing
the fortunes of human frailty, we know from the statements of the holy
Prophets, who proclaim that justice of God,
Whose vengeance the people of Israel had again and again incurred
through their iniquities, cannot be appeased save by fasting.
Thus it is that the Prophet Joel warns them, saying, “thus saith
the Lord your God,
turn ye to Me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and
mourning, and rend your hearts and not your garments, and turn ye to
the Lord your God,
for He is merciful and patient, and of great kindness, and very
merciful
II. Public services are of a higher character than private.
But the respect that is paid to the Divine decrees
always brings a special blessing, whatever may be the extent of our
voluntary services, so that publicly proclaimed celebrations are of a
higher character than those which rest on private institution He pursues the
same thought in chap. 2 of Sermon LXXXIX. e.g. tunc est efficacior
sacratiorque devotia, quando in operibus pietatis totius Ecclesiæ
unus animus et unus est census; publica enim præferenda sunt
propriis et ibi intelligenda est præcipua ratio utilitatis, ubi
vigilat cura communis.
III. The September fast calls us in this public way to self-amendment.
To this unconquerable strength of unity,
therefore, dearly-beloved, we are even now invited by the solemn Fast
of the Seventh Month, that we may lift our souls to the Lord free from worldly cares and earthly
concerns.
S. Cf. Serm. LXXVIII. 2.
donet licet sanctis suis quotidianam gratia Divina victoriam, non
aufert tamen dimicandi materiam. Cf. S.
IV. Community of goods and of actions is most precious in God’s sight.
It is a great and very precious thing, beloved, in
the Lord’s sight, when Christ’s
whole people engage together in the same duties, and all ranks and
degrees of either sex co-operate with the same intent: when one
purpose animates all alike of declining from evil and doing good; when
God is glorified in the works of His slaves,
and the Author of all godliness Totius pietatis
auctori: cf. Collect for 23rd Sunday after Trinity, which is
based on that in the Gregorian Sacramentary. Cf. Cf. Cf.
V. Let us then make the best use possible of the opportunity.
Let us then, dearly-beloved, lay hold upon this
most sacred unity in all its blessed integrity and engage in the solemn
fast with the concordant purpose of a good will. Nothing hard,
nothing harsh is asked of anyone, nor is anything imposed beyond our
strength, whether in the discipline of abstinence or in the amount of
alms. Each knows what he can and what he cannot do: let
every one pay his quota, assessing himself at a just and reasonable
rate, that the sacrifice of mercy be not offered sadly nor reckoned
among losses. Let so much be expended on pious work, as will
justify the heart, wash the conscience, and in a word profit both giver
and receiver. Happy indeed is that soul and truly to be admired
which in its love of doing good fears not the failing of the means, and
has no distrust that He will give him money still to spend, from Whom
he had what he spent in the past. But because few possess this
greatness of heart, and yet it is truly a pious thing for each one not
to forsake the care of his own, we, without prejudice to the more
perfect sort, lay down for you this general rule and exhort you to
perform God’s bidding according to the
measure of your ability. For cheerfulness becomes the benevolent
man, who should so manage his liberality that while the poor rejoice
over the help supplied, home needs may not suffer. “And He
that ministers seed to the sower, shall both provide bread to be eaten
and multiply your seed and increase the fruits of your
righteousness
Pariter. He thus keeps up the leading thought of this
sermon to end .
Sermon XC.
(On the Fast of Seventh Month, V.)
I. We must always be seeking pardon, because we are always liable to sin.
We proclaim the holy Fast of the Seventh Month,
dearly-beloved, for the exercise of
The observances of
the seventh month, especially of the Day of Atonement, will be found in
Sc. by Adam. Generandi
lege: others read generali lege, by the universal
law. S.
II. Christ is Himself the Way, which He bids us tread.
And lest we should be led by despair into sheer
inaction, He promises that the Divine power shall make those things
possible which are to man impossible from his own lack of power:
“for narrow and strait is the way which leadeth unto
life
III. The love of God contrasted with the love of the world.
For there are two loves from which proceed all
wishes, as different in quality as they are different in their
sources. For the reasonable soul, which cannot exist without
love, is the lover either of God or the
world. In the love of God there is no
excess, but in the love of the world all is hurtful. And
therefore we must cling inseparably to eternal treasures, but things
temporal we must use like passers-by, that as we are sojourners
hastening to return to our own land, all the good things of this world
which meet us may be as aids on the way, not snares to detain us.
Therefore the blessed Apostle makes this proclamation, “the time
is short: it remains that those who have wives be as though they
had none; and those who weep, as though they wept not; and those who
rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and those who buy, as though they
possessed not; and those that use this world, as though they used it
not. For the fashion of this world passes away S.
IV. The love of God is fostered by good works.
This state of mind, therefore, beloved, from which
earthly love is excluded, is strengthened by the habit of well-doing,
because the conscience must needs be delighted at good deeds, and do
willingly what it rejoices to have done. Thus it is that fasts
are kept, alms freely given, justice maintained, frequent prayer
resorted to, and the desires of individuals become the common wish of
all. Labour fosters patience, gentleness extinguishes anger,
loving-kindness treads down hatred, unclean desires are slain by holy
aspirations, avarice is cast out by liberality, and burdensome wealth
becomes the means of virtuous acts From this
point the oldest Vatican lectionary (3836) gives a very different
ending to the Sermon, which the Ball. consider as genuine as the one
given by the other mss., and translated
above: in which case they are probably right in inferring that
Leo used the Sermon more than once, and wrote these two endings for two
different occasions. S.
Sermon XCI.
On the Fast of the Seventh Month, VI.
I. Abstinence must include discipline of the soul as well as of the body.
There is nothing, dearly-beloved, in which the
Divine Providence does not assist the devotions of the faithful.
For the very elements of the world Cf. Serm. XIX.
2, per ipsius mundi cardines, quasi per quattuor evangelia,
incessabiliter discimus quod et prædicemus et agamus.
II. And in particular we must abstain from heresy, and that of Eutyches as well as that of Nestorius.
We must restrain ourselves, therefore, from food,
but much more must we fast from errors that the mind, given up to no
carnal pleasure, may be taken captive by no falsehood: because as
in past days, so also in our own, there are not wanting enemies of the
Truth, who dare to stir up civil wars within the catholic
Church The occasion of this
Sermon seems to have been either the same or a similar one to that of
Serm. XCVI., in which we read that certain traders had come to Rome
from Egypt after the murder of Proterius, supporting the heresy of
Eutyches. For the whole of
this chap. compare Lett. XXXI. chaps. 1 and 2.
III. The truth of the incarnation is proved both by the Eucharistic Feast and by the Divine institution of almsgiving.
Dearly-beloved, utter this confession with all
your heart and reject the wicked lies of heretics, that your fasting
and almsgiving may not be polluted by any contagion with error:
for then is our offering of the sacrifice clean and our gifts of mercy
holy, when those who perform them understand that which they do.
For when the Lord says, “unless ye have
eaten the flesh of the Son of Man, and drunk His blood, ye will not
have life in you S. This (acc. to the
Ball.) is the Amen which the communicant said at the Reception of the
Elements when the Priest said to Him, Corpus Christi and
sanguis Christi: on the Eucharistic evidence against
Eutyches, see Lett. LIX. chap. 2, and Serm. LXIII. chap. 7. S.
Sermon XCV.
A Homily on the Beatitudes, St.
I. Introduction of the subject.
When our Lord Jesus
Christ, beloved, was preaching the gospel of the Kingdom, and was
healing divers sicknesses through the whole of Galilee, the fame of His
mighty works had spread into all Syria: large crowds too from all
parts of Judæa were flocking to the heavenly Physician Cf. S. Divina eruditone
firmandos = τοὺς
διδαχθησομένους,
a common form of expression in Leo. Cf. Lett. XXVIII. the Tome,
chap. 1, quod voce omnium regenerandorum (= τῶν
ἀναγεννηθησομένων),
depromitur. Or testament (Lat.
testamentum). In sensu
ipsorum. Or testament (Lat.
testamentum). Cf. S. Paul’s
language (
II. The blessedness of humility discussed.
The nature then of Christ’s teaching is
attested by His own holy statements: that they who wish to arrive
at eternal blessedness may understand the steps of ascent to that high
happiness. “Blessed,” He saith, “are the poor
in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven Et illis in
tenuitate amica est mansuetudo et istis divitiis familiaris
elatio.
III. Scriptural examples of humility.
Of this high-souled humility the Apostles
first The
mss. vary between primum and
primi. The rendering above given practically represents
either. If primi, however, is read, it may be
questioned whether the true rendering is not “the first apostles
after the Lord,” which would be
interesting as suggesting that S. Leo did not necessarily confine the
title “apostle” to the Twelve. Præsidia
pecuniæ.
IV. The blessedness of mourning discussed.
After the assertion of this most happy humility,
the Lord hath added, saying, “Blessed
are they which mourn, for they shall be comforted S.
V. The blessedness of the meek.
Next the Lord says:
“blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth by
inheritance S. In nullo iam
spiritui futura contraria et cum voluntate animi perfectæ unitatis
habitura consensum: compare S. Aug. de Fide et
symbolo, cap. 23, “est autem animæ natura perfecta
cum spiritui suo subditur et cum sequitur sequentum Deum—non est
desperandum etiam corpus restitui naturæ
propriæ—tempore opportuno in novissima tuba, cum mortui
resurgent incorrupti et nos immutabimur.” The
interpretation of this beatitude in this way is fantastic, and very
strange to modern notions. Quod fuit
oneri, sit honori, the play on the words (which is quite classical)
may perhaps be represented by the difference between onerous and
honorary.
VI. The blessedness of desiring righteousness.
After this the Lord goes
on to say: “blessed are they who hunger and thirst after
righteousness, for they shall be satisfied S. The two words for
“love” here are different, and speak for themselves,
diligere (ἀγαπᾶν) Deum
and amare (ἐρᾶν) iustitiam.
VII. The blessedness of the merciful.
“Blessed are the merciful, for God shall have mercy on them S.
Operantium: operatio is the regular patristic term for the
doing of charitable actions; for this application of the beatitude and
its promised reward, compare
VIII. The blessedness of a pure heart.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall
S.
IX. The blessedness of peace-making.
“Blessed are the peace-makers, for they
shall be called the sons of God S. A carnali
generatione. S.
THE
Book of Pastoral Rule,
and
Selected Epistles,
OF
GREGORY THE GREAT
BISHOP OF ROME,
Translated, with Introduction, Notes, and Indices,
by the
REV. jAMES bARMBY, d.d.,
vICAR OF nORTHALLERTON, yORKSHIRE.
Prefatory Note.
————————————
The Text followed in these Translations is the Benedictine one, as given by Migne in Patrologia, Vol. LXXVII., Sancti Gregorii Magni, Vol. III. The same Text of the Regula Pastoralis has been published with an English Translation by the Rev. H. R. Bramley (James Parker and Co., 1874). The Translation now given is an original one, though the translator desires to express his obligations to his predecessor in the same task. The selection of Epistles translated has been made with the view of exhibiting Gregory’s various activities, his various styles of correspondence, his views and character, as well as of illustrating the history of his time. Those which relate to certain important subjects—such as the Lombard invasion, the English Mission, the dispute about the title of ‘Œcumenical Bishop,’ correspondence with the Emperors and with the Potentates of Gaul—have been given in their entirety. Of such as relate to subjects of less moment specimens only have been selected, but sufficient, it is hoped, for presenting a picture of the writer under his various aspects, and in his various spheres of work. It is hoped also that the appended notes may serve to shew the connexion of the several Epistles with each other, and with the circumstances they refer to, as well as to explain obscure words or passages. For a better understanding of the correspondence relating to the Church in Gaul, a pedigree of the contemporary Merovingian Kings is appended.
Prolegomena.
————————————
FOR an understanding of Gregory’s position, and of the purport of a great part of those of his epistles which are translated in this Series, a brief survey of the state of things, politically and ecclesiastically, at the time of his accession may in the first place be of service. There was now no separate Emperor of the West; what remained of the once great Western Empire being governed in the name of the Eastern Emperor, who had his court at Constantinople, by the Exarch of Italy, resident at Ravenna. The Kingdom of the Goths in Italy had ceased to be, the country having been recovered from them under Justinian about half a century before Gregory’s accession, as well as the province of Africa from the Vandals.
But the Emperor’s hold on Italy was limited and precarious, a large portion of it being already occupied by the Lombards, whose first invasion, under Alboin, had been in 568: and accordingly Gregory, writing in the thirteenth Indiction (a.d. 594–5), speaks of their having been in Italy for twenty-seven years, and in the sixth Indiction (a.d. 602–3) of their having been there for thirty-five years [Epp., Lib. V., Ep. 21, and Lib. XIII., Ep. 38]. Subsequently the Lombard King Autharis had advanced on Alboin’s conquests, and is said to have proceeded to Rhegium, at the very toe of Italy, and there, riding up to a column on the shore through the tidal waves, to have touched it with the point of his spear and said, “So far shall extend the boundary of the Lombards” (Paul. Warnefr., de gestis Longob., III. 33]. Autharis died in the first year of Gregory’s popedom [Epp., Lib. I., Ep. 17], and was succeeded by Agilulph, previously duke of Turin, whom Theodelinda, the widow of the deceased king, had selected as her consort. Under him, his royal seat being at Ticinum (Pavia), the Lombard dominion included the greater part of Northern Italy, reaching northward to the Alpine passes, the two great dukedoms of Spoletum and Beneventum in Southern Italy, with partial hold on Tuscia and elsewhere. The only parts that now distinctly acknowledged the sway of the Exarch were the Exarchate of Ravenna, on the eastern side of Italy, with Istria and Venetia further north, the duchies of Rome and Naples on the western side, portions of territory at the heel and toe of Italy, and the islands of Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica. But beyond the limits of their actual occupation the Lombards kept the country in a continual state of disturbance and alarm; a great part of it appears to have been debatable ground, and no one could say definitely to whom it belonged.
No previous invaders seem to have been viewed by
contemporaries with more horror, or painted in blacker colours, than
the Lombards. Their Arian Christianity does not appear to have
rendered them less odious than heathens would have been, or to have
softened their alleged savagery. Gregory repeatedly in his
letters speaks in the strongest possible terms of the misery of Italy
“among the swords of the Lombards:” and it was
doubtless the state of general distress thence arising, together with
disorganization of the country from other causes, and the prevalence of
calamity on whatever side he looked, that caused him continually to
express his conviction that the signs of the times betokened the speedy
approach of the Second Advent. It is in connexion with such a
state of things that he stands out prominently as a political
administrator of no common order. His position was one of
peculiar
His talents and activity in secular affairs were
shewn also in his management of the possessions in various quarters
with which the See of Rome had been endowed, known as “St.
Peter’s patrimony.” In Sicily especially, and also in
Campania, Calabria, Dalmatia and elsewhere, and to a small extent in
Gaul, the Roman Church held lands so called, over all of which Gregory
exercised personal superintendence by letters to his various agents,
shewing a remarkable knowledge of the state of things in the several
localities, and giving minute directions. While, on the one hand,
he took care that the Church should not be defrauded of her just dues,
on the other hand we find him repeatedly and strongly forbidding any
unjust claims, or any oppression of the natives who cultivated the
Church lands. The patrimony was commonly managed, under him, by
agents on the spot, called rectores patrimonii, and often by
deacons, or subdeacons, sent from Rome, to control the ordinary
rectores, or act in the same capacity. We find bishops
also in some cases acting as rectores. There was also a
class of officials called defensores ecclesiæ, or Guardians
of the Church, who were required to be authorized by letters from Rome
under the Pope’s hand (see V. 29; IX, 62; XI. 38). These
letters of appointment, of which we have specimens in V. 29 and XI. 38,
specified the protection of the poor as their primary duty. But
their office had a much wider scope. We find them commissioned,
not only to carry out various works of charity, but also to maintain
the rights and property of churches, to rectify abuses in monasteries
and hospitals (see e.g. I. 52; XIV. 2), to see to the canonical
election of bishops (e.g. X. 77), and to the supply of episcopal
ministrations during the suspension or incapacity of the holders of
Sees (XIV. 2), to assist bishops in the exercise of discipline (X. I),
and even to rebuke and coerce bishops themselves when negligent of duty
(III. 36; X. 10; XIII. 26, 27; XIV. 4). In some cases they were
also themselves rectores patrimonii (IX. 18). Further,
they constituted a schola, as did also the notaries and
subdeacons; and in the first Indiction (a.d.
598) Gregory appointed that seven of their number should thenceforth be
dignified with the name of regionarii (as was already the case
with the notaries and subdeacons), which gave them rank, and entitled
them to sit in assemblies of the clergy (VIII. 14). Though
entrusted with such large powers in matters ecclesiastical, they do not
seem to have been of necessity in sacred orders, and
Notable among the subdeacons invested with
authority for the number and particularity of the letters addressed to
him is Peter, whom Gregory sent at once in the first year of his
pontificate to Sicily, not only to look after the patrimony there and
after the supply of corn sent annually thence to Rome, but also, for a
time at least, to exercise delegated authority, in matters
ecclesiastical, over the bishops of the island (see Lib. 1.,
Ep. I). From the letters to this Peter we learn a good
deal about the way in which the lands of the patrimony, in Sicily at
least, were cultivated, and how the revenues were derived from
them. (See especially Lib. I., Ep. 44.) They
were cultivated by native peasants, called by Gregory rustici,
or coloni, who enjoyed the fruit of their labour, subject only
to customary dues to the lords of the land; in this case to the Roman
See. The principal dues we find referred to were, in the first
place, a kind of land-tax, called burdatio, and further, the
tithe of all the produce, which might be paid in kind, but seems to
have been often commuted for a money payment. Among the
prevalent abuses which Gregory peremptorily required to be
corrected were excessive valuation of the tithe, irrespective of the
current price of corn, when a money equivalent was paid, and in other
cases the use of measures of too large capacity, and exactions in
various ways of more than was fairly due. He orders schedules to
be made and authorised, copies of which were to be given to the
rustici in all the farms of the church, shewing what their legal
payments were, so as to guard against their being wronged in
future. There were other customary payments of smaller amounts,
such as fees on the marriage of peasants, which, under
limitations, he allows to be continued. It appears also
from Lib. XII., Ep. 25, that these rustici, or
coloni, were ascripti glebæ, so as not to be allowed
to migrate from the estate (massa) to which they were attached,
or to contract marriages beyond its limits. The several estates
constituting the patrimony were called massæ, each of which
might comprise several fundi; and it was customary to let these
massæ to farmers (conductores), who were left to
deal with the rustici, or coloni, being themselves
responsible for a certain amount, whether in money or produce, to the
officials of the Church. Gregory directed, among other things,
that these conductores, should not be arbitrarily disturbed in
their holdings, and that, on their death, members of their family
should succeed them, guardians being appointed in case of their
children being under age. Sicily was of great importance to Rome,
as being a corn-growing country from which especially the Romans were
supplied. Among Gregory’s temporal responsibilities was
that of seeing to a regular and adequate supply, a failure in which
might be followed by famine in Rome: and we find him attentive to
this duty, giving particular directions as to the procuring, storing,
and shipping of the corn. (See e.g. Lib. l., Ep. 2,
44, 72.) In fact, provision generally for the welfare of the
Roman citizens, and the general charge of the city, seems to have
devolved upon the Pope. And it was doubtless his responsibilities
in this regard, together with his more general political ones, in
addition to his “care of all the churches,” that caused him
so continually to bemoan in his letters the billows of worldly
business, incident to his office, which overwhelmed him, and hindered
his advancement in the spiritual life. Remarkable, indeed,
must have been his mental activity and his varied abilities, in that he
was able, as appears from his epistles, to make himself
accurately
With regard to the state of things in the
ecclesiastical sphere during Gregory’s popedom, it may be
observed first, that there was now a comparative cessation for a time
of controversial warfare. The battle no longer raged over Arian,
Nestorian, Monophysite, or Pelagian heresies; the Monothelitic
controversy had not yet begun. Catholic orthodoxy, as defined by
the first four Councils, was accepted generally, and enforced by the
imperial power, with Gregory’s full approval of coercive measures
(see e.g. Lib. IX., Ep. 49; Lib. XI., Ep.
46) “Prayer
should ever be made for the life of our most pious and Christian lord
the Emperor, and his most tranquil consort, &c., in whose times the
mouths of heretics are silent, since, though their hearts seethe with
the madness of perverse opinion, they presume not in the time of the
catholic Emperor to utter the wrong things they think”
(Lib. IX., Ep. 49).
With regard to the spiritual authority over the Church at large, claimed in the time of Gregory, and by him asserted, and the extent to which such claims were then acknowledged, the following remarks may be made.
Beyond the episcopal jurisdiction of the bishops
of Rome over their own proper diocese, which comprised only the city of
Rome, and their metropolitan jurisdiction over the seven suffragan
bishops of the Roman territory—viz., those of Ostia, Portus,
Silva Candida, Sabina, Præneste, Tusculum, and Albanum,—they
had long exercised a more extended patriarchal jurisdiction, which
(according to Rufinus towards the end of the fourth century) seems
originally to have extended over the suburban provinces which were
under the civil jurisdiction of the vicarius urbis, including
the islands of Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica. But, being the only
patriarchs of the West, they had long exercised authority, more or less
defined, over a much wider area, including Northern Italy, with its
metropolis at Milan, Illyricum East and West, and Northern
Africa. It is not necessary to attempt any review here of the
growth, as years
In Gaul, under the Merovingian princes, there are no signs of any dispute of the pope’s spiritual jurisdiction, which was constantly asserted, over the Churches there: but the ancient Celtic Churches of the British islands still retained their independence. This last fact is apparent, not only from what Bede relates of the attitude of the British and Scottish Christians towards Augustine and the Roman mission, but also from the tone of the letter of the Irish Columbanus to Gregory, which will be found among the epistles (see Lib. IX., Ep. 127). With the Church in Spain, after its renunciation of Arianism under King Reccared at the beginning of Gregory’s episcopate, he seems to have had little communication. He corresponded indeed with his friend Leander, of Seville, about the King’s conversion, and wrote a letter to the latter (IX. 122), who had sent an offering to Rome. Further, he sent into Spain the abbot Cyriacus, who had been employed to bring about the assembling of a Council in Gaul, commending him in a somewhat adulatory epistle to one Claudius, who appears to have been a person of influence in the court of Reccared (IX. 120). But for what special purpose he was sent does not appear. There is, moreover, a long document, comprised under XIII. 45 in the Benedictine edition of the epistles, relating to two bishops who were said to have been uncanonically deposed, for the adjudication of whose case one John, a defensor ecclesiæ, is said to have been sent, and to have pronounced sentence. But this epistle is not found in all codices; nor does it appear from it, even if it were considered genuine, whether John’s decision was accepted in Spain. On the whole, there is no sufficient evidence, but rather the contrary, of papal jurisdiction being recognized at that time in Spain as it certainly was in Gaul. It remains only to note the historical fact, that the whole Eastern branch of the Church Catholic never at any time submitted itself to the Roman See, notwithstanding occasional appeals to it by bishops or others when suffering under grievances.
With regard to Gregory’s own view of the
prerogatives of the Roman See beyond the limits of its proper
metropolitan or patriarchal jurisdiction, he undoubtedly claimed for it
a primacy not of rank only, but also of authority in the Church
Universal; and this of divine right, as representing the See of the
Prince of the apostles. Such claim had come, in his day, to be
the tradition of the Roman Church, which he accepted as a matter of
course, and handed on. In assertion of this claim he says in more
than one place, “Petro totius ecclesiæ cura et principatus
commissa est;” and again, “quis nesciat sanctam Ecclesiam
in apostolorum principis soliditate firmatam.…Itaque, cum multi
sint apostoli, pro ipso tamen principatu sola apostolorum principis
sedes in auctoritate convaluit” (Lib. VII., Ep.
40); and he certainly regarded the like authority as residing still in
what was called St. Peter’s See.
[There is indeed a passage in one of Gregory’s
Epistles (II. 52) which has been taken
On the other hand, towards the patriarch of Constantinople, when he considered him guilty of uncanonical procedure, he assumed a distinctly authoritative attitude. On his own authority he declared null and void (as his predecessor Pelagius II. had done) the synod at which the title of œcumenical bishop had been conferred on the Constantinopolitan patriarch (Lib. V., Epp. 18, 21); he entertained the appeal to himself of the two presbyters John and Athanasius, reversed their condemnation by the patriarch of Constantinople, and ordered their restitution (Lib. VI., Epp. 14, 15, 16, 17, &c.); and in a letter to John of Syracuse he says, “Nam de Constantinopolitana ecclesia quod dicunt, quis eam dubitet sedi apostolicæ esse subjectam?” (Lib. IX., Ep. 12.) For the See of Constantinople, though now patriarchal, was not even an ancient sedes apostolica: its bishop had indeed been assigned honorary rank (τὰ πρεσβεῖα τῆς τιμῆς) next after the bishop of Rome by the general Council of Constantinople (a.d. 381), but this only on the political ground of Constantinople being new Rome: patriarchal jurisdiction had indeed been confirmed to it over the Metropolitans of the Pontic, Arian, and Thracian dioceses by the 28th Canon of the Council of Chalcedon (a.d. 451); but this Canon had been repudiated at the time by Pope Leo of Rome. Hence the popes were ever peculiarly jealous of any new assumption, or uncanonical proceedings, on the part of the Constantinopolitan See, the ascendancy of which signified to them imperial domination rather than primitive ecclesiastical order or prerogative: and hence it is not to be wondered at that on the assumption of a title that seemed to imply universal supremacy Gregory was at once in arms, and asserted strongly all the authority that he believed to be inherent in his own Apostolic See. Such assertion, however, had no immediate effect in the absence of power to enforce it: it was disregarded at Constantinople: the Emperor Mauricius, who alone could have given practical effect to it, was appealed to by Gregory in vain; and, though Phocas, who succeeded him, is said to have issued a decree that “the Apostolic See of St. Peter, that is the Roman Church, should be the head of all Churches” (Anastasius Bibliothec.), yet it is an historical fact that neither Constantinople nor the Churches of the East generally, ever submitted to the claims of the Roman See.
There is no record of the year of Pope
Gregory’s birth: It was probably about a.d. 540, some ten years after Benedict of Nursia had
founded the Benedictine order. He was well born, his father
Gordianus being a wealthy Roman of senatorial rank, bearing the title
of “Regionarius,” which denoted some office of
dignity. He received the education usual with young Romans of his
rank in life, and is said to have been an apt scholar. The
historian Gregory of Tours, who was his contemporary, states that in
grammar, rhetoric, and logic he was considered second to none in Rome;
and he also studied law. Such education, however, fell
somewhat short of what we should now call a liberal one, leaving
him, as it did, entirely unacquainted. with any language but his own,
and so a stranger to all Greek literature; with no apparent taste, that
he anywhere displays in his writings, for art, poetry, or philosophy;
and with scanty historical knowledge. He was, with regard to
intellectual
He had been religiously brought up. His
father Gordianus is said to have been himself a religious man:
his mother Silvia (who lived in ascetic seclusion after her
husband’s death), and the sisters of Gordianus, Tarsilla and
Æmiliana (who lived in their own house as dedicated virgins), have
obtained a place in the calendar of saints: and his biographer,
John the Deacon, speaks of his early training having been that of a
saint among saints. He never, in his own writings, alludes to any
crisis in his early life at which he had become convinced of sin,
saying rather (as in one of his letters) that, while living in the
world, he had tried to live to God also, but had found it hard.
But on the death of his father (the date of which is not known) his
religious aspirations took a decided form; he kept but a small part of
the patrimony that came to him, employing the rest in charitable uses,
and especially in founding monasteries, of which he endowed six in
Sicily, and one, dedicated to St. Andrew, on the site of his own house
near the Church of St. John and St. Paul on the Cælian, “ad
clivum Scauri” which he himself entered as a monk, and of which
he was eventually elected abbot. The religious views of his age,
in which he fully shared, would of necessity suggest to him the
monastic life as the highest form of saintliness; and he may have been
especially moved by the recent example of St. Benedict of Nursia, whom
he greatly admired, and of whom he has left us in his Dialogues many
interesting records. In the ardour of his devotion, his life in
the monastery appears to have been ascetic to an extreme degree.
He is said by his biographer to have been fed on raw vegetables
(crudo legumine), supplied to him by his mother, who had become
a recluse in a neighbouring cell; and his fasts made him continually
ill, and endangered his life. He tells us himself in his
Dialogues of one Holy Week towards the end of which he fainted from
exhaustion, and was hardly kept alive: but before losing
consciousness, being shocked at the idea of breaking his fast before
Easter Day, he had requested the prayers of a very holy monk called
Eleutherius; and the result was that, returning to consciousness, he
remembered nothing of his previous pangs, felt no longer any craving
for food, and could have continued his fast a day longer than was
required. (Dialog., Lib. iii. c. 33.) Such was the
idea then entertained, and by him shared, of the way of attaining to
the highest holiness. However he survived all, though the very
weak
Having thus become a devout monk, he remained one in heart throughout his life. His habits of life were, as far as they could be, still monastic while he sat upon the papal chair; and he never lost, and often gave expression to, his ardent longing for a return to monastic seclusion, as alone allowing closeness to God, as well as peace and happiness. See, for instance, what he says on this subject soon after his accession to the Emperor’s sister Theoctista (Epp., Lib. I., Ep. 5), or, after longer experience, to his old friend Leander of Seville (Lib. IX., Ep. 121).
But he was not allowed to enjoy for long the
seclusion he so much desired; being summoned from his monastery
by the pope to be ordained one of the seven deacons of Rome, and
afterwards sent to Constantinople to be the pope’s
apocrisiarius (or responsalis) at the imperial
court. There is some doubt as to which pope it was that thus
ordained and commissioned him. From a combination of what
is said by his biographers, Paul the Deacon and John the Deacon
respectively, it seems most probable that it was Pope Benedict I. who
summoned him from his monastery and ordained him, perhaps with the view
of sending him to Constantinople, and that it was Pelagius II. (who
succeeded Benedict a.d. 578) under whom he was
actually sent. The office of apocrisiarius was usually filled by
a deacon; and hence it is not unlikely that his employment in that
office had been in view from the first, when he was called from his
monastery and ordained. The popes at this time were in special
need of an able representative at Constantinople for procuring, if
possible, some effective aid against the Lombards, the Exarch at
Ravenna having been appealed to in vain. Gregory remained at
Constantinople for several years, probably from a.d. 578 to a.d. 585, first under
the Emperor Tiberius, and then under Mauricius, who succeeded to the
Empire a.d. 582. There is no extant
record of instructions sent to him from Rome till a.d. 584, when Pope Pelagius wrote to him, representing
the miserable state of Italy under the Lombards, the imminent danger of
Rome, and the inaction of the Exarch, and directing him to press the
Emperor for succour. He also desired him to send back to Rome the
monk Maximianus, who, together with other monks of his monastery, had
accompanied Gregory to Constantinople. This, his official
residence in the imperial city, could not fail to be of advantage to
him in the way of preparation for his subsequent position, as giving
him a practical knowledge of the state of parties there, the ways of
the court, and the conduct of political affairs. He also made
friends of position and influence there, with whom he afterwards
corresponded; among whom may be named Theoctista, the Emperor’s
sister, who had charge of the imperial children, Narses a patrician,
Theodorus, physician to the Emperor, Gregoria, lady of the bedchamber
to the Empress, and two patrician ladies, Clementina and
Rusticiana. All these were religious persons, over whom he had
gained influence, which he did not allow to die. He also formed
at this time the intimate acquaintance of Leander, Bishop of Seville,
who happened to be sojourning in Constantinople, and to whom he wrote
afterwards very affectionate letters. It was at his instigation
that he began, while at Constantinople, the Magna Moralia, or
Exposition of the Book of Job, which he also dedicated to him in its
completed form (Moral. Libri., Epist. Missoria, c. 1; Epp.,
Lib. V.
“By their example (he writes in his Introduction to the Magna Moralia, above referred to) I was bound, as it were by the cable of an anchor, when tossing in the incessant buffeting of secular affairs, to the placid shore of prayer. For to their society, as to the bosom of a most safe harbour, I fled for escape from the rollings and the billows of earthly action; and, though that ministry had torn me from the monastery, and cut me off by the sword of its occupation from my former life of quiet, yet among them, through the converse of studious reading, the aspiration of daily compunction gave me life.” He was engaged also at one time in a long dispute with Eutychius, the Constantinopolitan patriarch, who had written a treatise on the nature of the body after the resurrection, maintaining that it would be impalpable, and more subtle than air. Gregory maintained its palpability, alleging in proof that of the risen body of Christ. The Emperor Tiberius at length took cognizance of the dispute, and decided it in favour of Gregory, ordering the book of Eutychius to be burnt. The disputants are said to have been so exhausted by the long controversy that both had to take to their beds at its close (Joan. Diac., Lib. I., c. 28, 29).
Gregory was at length (probably a.d. 585) allowed by Pelagius to return to Rome and reenter his beloved monastery; and it was now probably that he was elected to be its abbot. But Pelagius appears still to have made use of him, a letter from that pope to Elias bishop of Aquileia on the subject of “The Three Chapters” being attributed by Paul the Deacon to the pen of Gregory (De gestis Longobard., Lib. III.).
That period of peace, lasting some five years,
Gregory constantly refers to, and doubtless with complete sincerity, as
the happiest part of his life. It was interrupted by the death of
Pelagius II., who fell a victim to an epidemic disease then raging on
the 8th of February, a.d. 590, when we are
informed that the whole clergy and people of Rome concurred in electing
Gregory to the popedom, as the only man for the place at that time of
peculiar trial. In addition to the general distress and alarm
caused by the advancing Lombards, the Tiber had overflowed its banks,
destroying property and stores of corn, famine was feared, and fatal
disease prevailed. Men’s hearts were failing them for fear,
and for looking after those things that were coming on the earth.
Gregory himself often speaks of the signs of the time as betokening the
coming end of all things; and in one of his letters he compares Rome to
an old and shattered ship, letting in the waves on all sides, tossed by
a daily storm, its planks rotten and sounding of wreck. If anyone
could pilot the ship through the storm, there seems to have been a
general feeling that the man was Gregory. He was most unwilling
to undertake the task. When an embassy was sent to Constantinople
for obtaining the Emperor’s confirmation of the election,
he sent at the same time a letter imploring him to withhold it.
But the letter was intercepted by the prefect of the city, and another
sent in its place, entreating confirmation. Meanwhile Gregory
employed himself in preaching to the people, and calling them to
repentance, in view of so many symptoms of the wrath of God. He
instituted at this time the “Septiform Litany,” to be
chanted through the streets of the city by seven
companies—of clergy, of laymen, of monks, of nuns, of
married women, of widows, and of children and paupers—who,
setting out from different churches, were to meet for common
supplication. It was at the close of one such procession that the
vision (not mentioned by any contemporaries, or by Bede) was afterwards
said to have been seen, to which the name of the Castle of St. Angelo
is attributed; the story being that, on approaching the basilica of St.
Peter on the Vatican, Gregory saw above the monument of Hadrian an
angel sheathing his sword in token that the plague was stayed. At
length, the Emperor’s confirmation of his election having arrived
at Rome, he is said to have fled in disguise from the city, and hid
himself in a
The four Eastern patriarchs at this time, to whom, according to custom, he sent letters immediately after his accession continuing his confession of faith, were John (known as Jejunator, or the Faster) of Constantinople, Eulogius of Alexandria, Gregory of Antioch, and John of Jerusalem; to whom is added in the address at the head of the circular letter, “Anastasius, ex-patriarch of Antioch,” who was indeed the true patriarch, having been deposed by the mere secular authority of the Emperor, Justin II. (Evagr. H. E., V. 5). Consequently Gregory, though not venturing to ignore the patriarch in possession, addressed the deposed one also in his circular, and wrote him also separate letters, in which he recognized him as the rightful patriarch, and undertook to intercede with the Emperor Maurice in his behalf (I. 8, 25, 26). On the restoration of Anastasius to his See (a.d. 593) by the Emperor on the death of the interloper, Gregory wrote him a warm congratulatory letter (V. 39).
Of the other patriarchs John of Constantinople was succeeded during Gregory’s pontificate (a.d. 596) by Cyriacus, and John of Jerusalem by Amos, and he (a.d. 600 or 601) by Isacius (see XI. 46). But the patriarchs of Jerusalem, though their position was recognized, were not at that time of any great influence or importance.
A brief summary may now suitably be given of some leading events of Gregory’s pontificate in the order suggested by the successive Books of his Epistles, which correspond to the years of his reign. His biographer John the Deacon says of him that, having been pope for a little more than thirteen and a half years, he left in the archives (in scrinio) as many books of Epistles as he had reigned years, the last, or 14th, book being left incomplete because of his not having completed the 14th year of his reign (Joan. Diac. Vit. S. Greg., IV. 71). Accordingly the Benedictine Editors of his works have arranged his extant epistles, according to what, to the best of their judgment, they conceived to have been the original order, in 14 books, answering to the successive years of his pontificate. Previous editions had given them in 12 books only, and many of them evidently placed wrongly in order of time. (See Patrologiæ Tomus LXXV. Sancti Gregorii magni; Præfatio in Epistolas.) Hence, supposing the Benedictine arrangement to be on the whole correct, we have in the successive books as now arranged reference to the historical events of the successive years to which the books are assigned. The dates given to the books are according to the Roman method of Indictions, one Indiction being a period of 15 years, and the successive years of each of such periods being called the 1st, 2nd, 3rd year of the Indiction, or the 1st, 2nd, 3rd Indiction, and so on to the 15th. Each Indiction year began with September; and Gregory, having been ordained on the 3rd of September, a.d. 590, which was the commencement of the 9th year of the then Indiction, the date of the first book of the epistles, corresponding to the first year of his reign, is given as Indiction IX.
Book I. Indiction IX. (a.d. 590–1.)
This first book introduces us at once to a view of the
new pope’s immediate vigilance and activity in affairs secular
and sacred that demanded his attention. (1.) We find him
providing without delay for the efficient and just management of the
patrimony of St. Peter, which has been spoken of above; and this
especially in Sicily, whither (as has been also said above) he sent
Peter the subdeacon as his agent with large powers. To him also
he gave charge to keep him fully informed of all that was going on, and
further committed to him ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the bishops
of the island, directing him among other things to convene synods
annually,
Most, if not all, of the subjects above noted, or the like, recur frequently in subsequent years. It may suffice to have drawn attention to them here, noting only in connexion with the following books any new subjects that appear of special interest.
(1.) We meet in this book with the first
allusion to the operations of the Lombards in Italy (Ep. 3); and
hence this may be a suitable place for giving a brief sketch of
Gregory’s dealings with regard to them in the light thrown on the
subject by his epistles. The Lombard King, Agilulf (as has been
said above, p. vii.), had his headquarters at Ticinum (Pavia),
the extensive dukedoms of Beneventum and Spoletum in Southern Italy
being in the possession of his dukes. Early in the year before us
(the 10th Indiction), it appears that Ariulf, duke of Spoletum, was
believed to be marching either towards Ravenna or Rome. (See
Ep. 3, which is dated in the Collection of Paul the
Deacon and in Cod. Colbert. “die V. Kalend. Octob. Indict.
10,” i.e. 27 Sept., a.d. 591.)
Later in the same Indiction Gregory becomes aware of his approach, and
addresses letters (Epp. 29, 30) to officers in command of the
imperial forces with the purpose of urging them to meet the impending
danger. Subsequently in the same year it appears from a letter to
the Bishop of Ravenna (Ep. 46) that Ariulf was already besieging
Rome. Gregory in this letter gives a sad account of the savagery
of the besieger outside the walls, his own illness and depression, and
the difficulties he had to contend with. He complains, in this as
in other letters, of the conduct of Romanus Patricius, the Exarch at
Ravenna, who would neither send aid nor sanction terms of peace.
Further, troops had, he says, been withdrawn from Rome before the
siege, so as to leave it insufficiently defended; and the soldiers of a
legion that remained there, not receiving their pay, had refused to man
the walls. In these straits Gregory appears at length to have
come to terms with Ariulf on his own responsibility; for doing which he
was afterwards blamed and reproached as having been duped by
Ariulf. (See Lib. V., Ep. 40.) The peace,
however, was not of long duration. The Exarch (probably soon
afterwards, though the date is not clear) marched himself to Rome, and
on his return seized certain cities—Satrium, Polimartium, Horta,
Tudertua, Ameria, Perusia, Luceoli, and others—which had been
ceded to the Lombards under treaty—perhaps that which Gregory
himself had made. (Paul. Diac. De gestis Longobard, IV.
8. Cf. Epp., Lib. V., Ep. 40.)
Agilulf, the Lombard King, incensed by this breach of faith, now came
with an army from Ticinum, recaptured Perusia, and again besieged
Rome. In a letter addressed some time afterwards to the Emperor
(Lib. V., Ep. 40), Gregory gives a lamentable account of
the misery that had ensued. Since the departure of Ariulf, he
says, “troops had still further been withdrawn from the city for
the fruitless defence of Perusia, the supply of corn had failed, while
from the walls they saw Romans led away with ropes round their necks
like dogs to be sold in France.” He, with the præfect
of the city, also called Gregory, and the military commander Castorius,
had done all they could under extreme difficulty to guard the walls,
for which he complains they afterwards got no thanks, but rather blame
for neglect of duty in letting the corn run short. He himself,
when the besiegers arrived, had been delivering his well-known course
of homilies on Ezekiel, which he had been obliged to break off
abruptly. The last ends thus:—“Let no one blame me if
henceforth I cease my speaking, since, as you all see, our tribulations
have increased; we are surrounded on all sides by swords; on all sides
we are afraid for imminent danger of death. Some return to us
with their hands cut off; others are reported to us as taken captive or
slain. I am now forced to withhold my tongue from exposition, for
my soul is weary of life.” How long this siege lasted, or
on what terms of agreement Agilulf at length departed, we are not
told. Whatever arrangement was made, it was evidently due to
Gregory alone. Paul the Deacon says only (De gest.
Longob., IV. 8), “that King Agilulf, matters being arranged,
returned to Ticinum;” and adds, “and not long
afterwards, at the suggestion especially of his wife Queen
Theodelinda, as the blessed Gregory
We thus see how indefatigably active Gregory was in the political sphere of things. Lasting peace or security for Italy at that trying time it was beyond the power of man to bring about: but whatever was done towards mitigation of distress, and temporary cessation of hostilities, or approaches to better understanding with the Lombard King, appears plainly to have been due to Gregory. Nor should we leave out of sight his provision for the redemption of captives taken in war, whether out of ecclesiastical funds or others entrusted to him for the purpose, or by the sale, which he cordially sanctioned, of the sacred vessels of churches (IV. 17, 31; VII. 13, 26, 28, 38; IX. 17, &c.).
(2.) Attention may be directed to epistles 22, 23 in this book in connexion with the spiritual jurisdiction exercised by Rome over East as well as West Illyricum.
(3.) We may observe also the important import of epistle 41, with regard to the exemption of monasteries from episcopal control by Gregory. The constitutions, De privelegiis monasteriorum, therein contained were afterwards promulged by a council under him (called Conciliæ Romanum III., sive Lateranense) in April, a.d. 601, being signed by 20 bishops, 14 presbyters, and 3 or 4 deacons.
The following notable incidents are referred to in this Book :
(1.) Two instances of the authority exercised (as above said) over the Illyrian Churches being, for a time at least, resisted or disregarded, and of the support of the Emperor being sought, and more or less obtained, in such resistance or disregard. The first instance was in the case of Adrian, bishop of Thebæ Phthioticæ in Eastern Illyricum, as to which see note to Ep. 6. The second and more serious one (which has been already alluded to) was in the case of Maximus, elected and consecrated bishop of Salona in Western Illyricum, in defiance of Gregory’s prohibition and excommunication. In this case the resistance was pertinacious and long continued, and it was not till after seven years that the matter was compromised and communion restored. A summary of the proceedings, with reference to all the epistles bearing on the case, will be found in a note to Ep. 47.
(2.) As illustrative of the relations between Rome and Constantinople, the case of John of Chalcedon and Athanasius of Isauria, whose appeal to the Roman See was entertained by Gregory. See note to Lib. III., Ep. 53.
(3.) The beginning of remonstrances, continued through two years, with the metropolitan bishops of Ravenna with regard to their assumption of dignity above that of other metropolitans, expressed especially by their use of the pallium on other occasions than during Mass. From the letters on this subject we may detect, as has been said above, some jealousy at the seat of the Exarch of the authoritative claims of the Roman See. See Lib. III., Ep. 56, with note and reff.
(4.) The conduct of Gregory, at once outspoken and submissive to imperial edicts, with respect to the recent prohibition by the Emperor of soldiers becoming monks. See Ep. 65, note and reff. The incident illustrates well Gregory’s habitual deference to the authority of the state, except in matters purely spiritual.
(5.) His requirement of Jews not being allowed to obtain or keep possession of Christian slaves. There are other letters on this subject, viz. IV. 9, 21; VI. 32; VII. 24; IX. 36, 110. Even slaves already in the lawful possession of Jews, on declaring their desire to become Christians, were to be thenceforth free without any compensation to their owners; only that pagans bought by Jews simply with a view to sale might, on their declaring such desire, be sold by such Jews within three months after their purchase of them; but only to Christian masters. It may be here observed that, though such provisions seem hard upon Jewish owners, and though Jews were legally prohibited from proselytising or building new synagogues, yet we find Gregory in other respects very tender towards them, repeatedly forbidding their being at all molested in the synagogues they had, or being in any way persecuted into accepting baptism (I. 10, 35, 47; VIII. 25; IX. 6, 55; XIII. 12). Those on the estates of the Church might indeed be drawn towards Christianity by the prospect of reduced rents (II. 32, V. 8), but all compulsory conversion of them is denounced as wrong and unavailing (e.g. I. 47). On the other hand, with some apparent inconsistency, pagan peasants on the estates might be compelled to conform by intolerable exactions being laid upon them in case of their refusal (IV. 26), and idolaters or diviners were to be reclaimed, if freemen, by imprisonment, or, if slaves, by stripes and torments (IX. 65).
Book IV. Indiction XII. (a.d. 593–4).
In this book we may note:
(1) The continued refusal of many at least of the bishops in Liguria, as well as in Istria and Venetia, to assent to the condemnation of the “Three Chapters” by the fifth Council, and with them of Theodelinda, the Catholic Lombard queen. See Ep. 2 and notes, with Epp. 3, 4, 38, 39.
(3.) The directions given by Gregory, and,
as thereby shewn, the custom of the Church, with regard to the
anointing of the baptized (Ep. 9, and Ep. 26, with note);
and also his belief in the miraculous efficacy of the relics of saints,
shewn in many other Epistles, but especially in
Book V. Indiction XIII. (a.d. 594–5).
(1.) This year is memorable for the
commencement of Gregory’s earnest protest, continued through his
subsequent life, against the title of Œcumenical, or Universal,
Bishop (or Patriarch) assumed by the Patriarch of Constantinople.
The title itself was not a new one. It appears to have been
occasionally given during the fifth century as a title of honour to
patriarchs generally, the first known instance being when Olympius
Episc. Evazensis gave it to Dioscorus at Concil. That this was the
date may be inferred from Gregory, in Epistle XLIII. of this fifth
book, speaking of the synod having been held eight years ago.
The following is a summary of the correspondence that ensued in this and following years:—
In this year Gregory despatched five letters to
Sabinianus, his apocrisiarius at Constantinople:—1.
In the following year (Lib. VI., Indict. XIV., i.e. a.d. 595–6) we find an epistle, dated August (i.e. August, a.d. 596), to Eulogius, the patriarch of Alexandria only (Ep. 60), expressing surprise that the latter, in a letter received from him had not even alluded to the subject of the former epistle which had been addressed to the two patriarchs. It seems as if Eulogius had either been afraid to provoke the emperor’s displeasure, or had attached less importance to the title than did Gregory himself, and so had maintained a discreet silence. In this epistle Gregory expresses the view, which has been alluded to above, of the sees of Rome and Alexandria being both in a sense St. Peter’s, in virtue of the latter having been founded by St. Mark, whom St. Peter had sent. He had previously, in a letter to Anastasius of Antioch (V. 39), intimated a similar view of the See of Antioch being also in a certain sense St. Peter’s; and in a subsequent letter to Eulogius (VII. 40) he sets forth more distinctly and at length his noteworthy position of all the three patriarchal Sees of Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria, having together the prerogatives of St. Peter’s See.
In the following year (Indict. XV.,
a.d. 596–7) John Jejunator died, and was
succeeded by Cyriacus, to whom Gregory wrote on receiving his synodical
letter, addressing him in a friendly tone (Ep. 4), but urging in
the course of his letter the rejection of the offensive title. He
wrote again (Ep. 31) especially on the subject, still
courteously, but pressing the matter strongly. To the emperor we
find two letters; the first (Ep. 6) approving of the appointment
of Cyriacus, but without any allusion to the burning question; the
second (Ep. 33), after receiving one from the emperor, in which
the desire had been expressed that the emissaries of the new patriarch
should be honourably received at Rome. To this request Gregory
replies that he has so received them, and admitted them to communion
with him, hoping for the best; but that his own representatives at
Constantinople would by no means be allowed to communicate with
Cyriacus, unless the title were renounced. The emperor had said
that the matter was a frivolous one. “Yes (says Gregory)
the title is indeed frivolous, but its meaning and its consequences are
serious;” and he repeals his continual assertion that whosoever
assumes it is the precursor of Antichrist. In this year also he
continued his
(2) We observe in this year the sending of
the pallium to Virgilius, bishop of Arles in Gaul, and with it his
delegation (Epp. 53, 54, 55) as the Pope’s Vicar in the
Kingdom of Childebert. As has been said above (see p. xii.), the
spiritual authority of Rome over the Gallican Churches was not
disputed; and Gregory exercised it vigilantly by means of letters to
bishops, and to royal personages, labouring among other things to move
them to put down simony, clerical immorality, and other prevalent
abuses, and to assemble synods under authority from Rome for the
correction of crying evils. But, though we find no resistance to
his spiritual authority, neither do we find any evidence of his appeals
to the consciences of the potentates of Gaul having had much practical
effect in the directions indicated. Doubtless in a difficult
field of action he did what he could; nor need we doubt that the
The main divisions of Gaul at this time were Austrasia on the Eastern side, including part of what is now Germany, Burgundy to the West and South, and the smaller Neustria on the North-west. The limits as well as the possession of these territories were continually changing during the contests between the descendants of Clovis, some or other of whom ruled the whole of Gaul; all now professing Catholic Christianity. In the Indiction now before us (Indict. XIII., a.d. 594–5), as is pointed out in a note to Ep. 53, Childebert II., then aged about 25, ruled by far the greatest part of Gaul; and hence the jurisdiction intended to be conferred on Virgilius, when the pallium was sent him, may be taken as equally extensive. We find no instance of spiritual authority so claimed being disputed in Gaul.
Book VI. Indiction XIV. (a.d. 595–6).
(1) This year is memorable for the mission of Augustine to England, the progress of which, as indicated by the epistles, may be summarized as follows. The missionaries having left Rome, probably in the early spring of the year 596, and proceeded as far as the South coast of France, and having there turned faint-hearted, Augustine himself returned to Rome for leave to relinquish the enterprize. Gregory sent him back to his companions with the letter, addressed to them, numbered Ep. 51 in this sixth book. It is dated X. Kal. Aug. Indict. 14, i.e. 23 July, a.d. 596. For a view of the circumstances see note to vi. 51. He was now charged (as he does not appear to have been when first sent forth) with various letters of commendation, intended to speed him on his journey: viz. to the bishops of Marseilles, of Turni (al. Turon:—Tours?), of Arles, Vienne and Autun, to Arigius, designated as Patrician of Gaul, to Theodebert and Theoderic, the two boy-kings of Austrasia and of Burgundy, and to their powerful grandmother Brunehild, who at this time ruled Austrasia as the guardian of Theodebert. The course of the missionaries, after leaving Marseilles, would naturally be up the valley of the Rhone, and so northward as far as Autun, most at least of the letters above named being such as might be delivered on the way. Thence to their place of embarcation for the Isle of Thanet we find no intimation of their route, except that, in passing through Neustria, they were well received and aided by Clotaire II. (nephew of Charibert, the deceased father of Bertha), who at that time ruled the country, having his capital at Soissons. This appears, though there is no extant letter of commendation on this occasion to Clotaire, from a subsequent letter to him (XI. 61).
The landing of the missionaries on the Isle of Thanet was, according to Bede, in the following year, a.d. 597 (H. E., I. 25, V. 24). It must have been early in the year, so as to allow time for the events, to be next noticed, which took place before its close. The next allusion to the mission found in the Epistles is Gregory’s exulting announcement to Eulogius, bishop of Alexandria, of its remarkable success, and of the baptism of more than ten thousand Angli as early as the Christmas of the same year, 597 (VIII. 30). The date is definitely given in the letter to Eulogius;—“in the solemnity of the Lord’s Nativity which was kept in this first indiction”—The first indiction being from September, 597, to September, 598. In the meantime, as appears from the same letter, Augustine had already been consecrated bishop. The letter says vaguely “a Germanis Episcopis”: but, according to John the Deacon (Vit. S. Greg. II. 36), and Bede (H. E., I. 27), it was to Virgilius, bishop of Arles, that Augustine had gone, as directed by Gregory, for consecration.
The next batch of Epistles throwing light on the
progress of the mission (after two others, IX. 11 and 108, wherein
Queen Brunehild and Syagrius Bishop of Autun are thanked for their
attention to the missionaries on their progress) is in Book XI, and
thus assigned
The letters which these new missionaries carried
with them were to the bishops Virgilius of Arles (Ep. 55),
Desiderius of Vienne (Ep. 54), Aetherius of Lyons (Ep.
56), Arigius of Vapincum (Ep. 57), with a circular to various
bishops of Gaul (Ep. 58); also to Queen Brunehild (Ep.
62), to kings Theodebert, Theoderic, and Clotaire (Epp. 59, 60,
61): to Augustine himself (Ep. 65), together with a long
reply (Ep. 64) to his questions Another letter
to Augustine (Ep. 28), though placed in Book XI. by the
Benedictine editors, may have been written in some previous year.
It is one of congratulation on reported success, and of warning against
elation. It seems to refer to the same news, received from
Britain, that Gregory announced to Eulogius of Alexandria in his letter
to him, a.d. 598, and resembles that letter in
its exultant tone. Containing in itself no intimation of its own
date, it seems more likely that it was written about the same time with
the letter to Eulogius than that Gregory should have let several years
elapse before finding an opportunity of congratulating Augustine on his
success. The only reason for
doubting whether the letter to Bertha was sent at the same time with
that to Ethelbert, is that in the former the queen is exhorted to move
her husband to follow her faith, whereas in the latter the king is
addressed as already a Christian. The letter to Bertha is shewn
by what is said in it to have been written after the arrival in Rome of
Laurence and Peter, and that to Ethelbert, from its date, to have been
sent by Mellitus and his companions when they left Rome for
Britain. But there is nothing to shew that the letter to Bertha
might not have been sent previously. It may be that the news of
the king’s conversion did not reach Rome till after the arrival
there of Lawrence and Peter, and that Gregory had found an opportunity,
before sending to Britain the new band of missionaries, of despatching
a letter to the queen, urging her to bring it about. There would
be time enough for his doing so, since the sending of Mellitus seems to
have been delayed for a considerable time, owing, it may be, to
Gregory’s state of health at the time. See Preface to XI.
64. On the other hand, the language used in the letter to Bertha
may possibly only mean that she ought to move her husband to greater
zeal in propagating the faith, already embraced by himself, among his
subjects. The exact date of Ethelbert’s baptism is not
known. Bede only says that he allowed the missionaries to preach
freely before being himself converted, and that, after his conversion,
he compelled no one to accept Christianity. It may, then, be only
his reported lukewarmness in this regard that Gregory’s
exhortation to Bertha refers to.
One more letter relating to the mission in Book XI. remains to be noticed; viz., Ep. 76, to Mellitus, which was sent after the rest, being intended to overtake the new band of missionaries on their journey through Gaul. Its main purpose seems to have been to modify what had been said in the letter to Ethelbert as to the destruction of heathen temples. See Note to Ep. 76. This is the last extant epistle referring to the English mission.
(2) To be noted also in this book is the first of the ten epistles addressed to the notorious queen Brunehild in Gaul (VI. 5). On her alleged character, and Gregory’s mode of addressing her, see note to the epistle.
Though no historical events of importance come for the first time before our notice in these books, attention may be drawn (1) to Gregory’s policy of protecting monasteries from episcopal domination (VII. 12, 43; VIII. 15); (2) his sanction of the sale of church plate for charitable purposes (VII. 13, 38); (3) Specimens of his letters of spiritual counsel, especially to pious ladies of rank (VII. 25, 26, 30; VIII. 22).
Book IX. Indiction II. (a.d. 598–9)
Noticeable in this book are, (1) Gregory’s renewed efforts, on Romanus Patricius being succeeded by Callinicus in the exarchate, to reclaim the Istrian bishops to communion with Rome (Ep. 9, 10, 93, &c.); (2) his interesting letter with reference to the ancient liturgical usages of the Roman Church (Ep. 12); (3) the correspondence between him and the Visigothic king Reccared in Spain, assigned to this year (Epp. 61, 121, 122); (4) his continued efforts to bring about the assembling of synods and correction of prevalent abuses in the Church of Gaul (Ep. 106, &c.); (5) the remarkable letter to him of the Irish saint Columbanus, illustrating the differences with regard to the computation of Easter between the Roman and Celtic Churches, and the attitude of the latter towards the Roman See (Ep. 127).
Book XI. Indiction IV. (a.d. 600–1).
Noticeable in this book are—
(1) The letter to Serenus, bishop of Marseilles, with regard to the use and abuse of pictures in Churches (Ep. 13).
(2) Two long letters to ladies of rank at Constantinople (Epp. 44, 45), the first of which is interesting, as in other ways, so for the account contained in it of supposed miracles at the monastery of St. Andrew in Rome, shewing, as many other epistles do, Gregory’s firm belief in miraculous interventions; while the second is remarkable, not only for its spiritual counsels, but also for its expression of Gregory’s views on the unlawfulness of married persons entering monasteries without mutual consent; on the efficacy of baptism; and on various points of doctrine.
(3) The letter to the bishops of Iberia, setting forth the various ways of reconciling various kinds of heretics to the Church, and containing a specimen of Gregory’s controversial skill in his refutation of Nestorianism (Ep. 67).
(4) Evidence of Gregory’s unremitted efforts to correct the immorality prevalent among the clergy in Gaul, shewn in his letter to queen Brunehild on the subject (Ep. 69).
(5) The letters relating to the English mission, notice of which has been forestalled under Book VI.
Book XIII. Indiction V. (a.d. 602–3).
In this Book we may note—
(1) Continued correspondence about the Church in Gaul, with references to a church, monastery, and hospital, founded by queen Brunehild at Autun, and to the synod for correction of abuses, long desired by Gregory, for the holding of which she had now requested a fit person to be sent from Rome (Epp. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10).
(2) The important event of the accession of Phocas to the empire (November, a.d. 602), with the letters of Gregory on the occasion to him and to his wife Leontia (Epp. 31, 38, 39).
The tone of high compliment—nay, of
adulation—which marks these letters has been justly regarded as a
blot, much to be regretted, on the lustre of Gregory’s
character. There
In the course of this indiction (on the 12th of March, a.d. 604) Gregory died. The seventeen Epistles assigned to this last half-year of his life (one of which is dated December) shew no abatement of his care for all the Churches, or his activity in correspondence, notwithstanding his excessive affliction from gout, leaving him sometimes hardly able to speak, which he alludes to in his letter to Theodelinda, the Lombard queen (Ep. 12). This letter was probably written shortly before his death, since he speaks in it of the queen’s messengers having left him between life and death, though he still contemplates the possibility of recovery. It is a peculiarly interesting one, not only for this reason, but also as being his last to her. He congratulates her in it on the recent baptism of her infant son Adulouvald in the catholic faith, sends for him a cross containing, as he alleges, wood from the true one, and also jewelled rings for his sister; he bids her thank her husband for peace concluded, and influence him, as she had ever done, to continue it; and he promises her an answer, in case of his recovery, to certain arguments against the condemnation of the Three Chapters by the fifth council, which she had sent for his consideration. It thus appears that to the end of his life he had failed to convince the Lombard queen on this subject, notwithstanding his influence over her, and the cordial relations ever subsisting between them.
The view opened to us through this long series of
letters into the mind and character of the great Gregory is of peculiar
interest. The man himself stands out before us therein
self-disclosed; his very faults and frailties, which a panegyrist would
have veiled, giving life and reality to the picture. We may
observe in the first place how conspicuous throughout is his
unhesitating faith. No cloud of doubt seems to have cast
its shadow on his certainty of the truth of Holy Writ and Christianity,
and of the divine authority of the Catholic Church, speaking through
Fathers and Councils as its exponents. Nor were either his
temperament or his training such as to expose him to philosophic
questionings. No less clear is the sincerity of his life as
inspired and guided by his religious faith. Whatever inferior
human motives may appear sometimes, there can be no doubt that his
paramount aim was to devote himself to God’s service. As
was to be expected from the religious ideas of his age, his theory of
the Christian life was ascetic in the extreme. Continual
compunction, fear of judgment, fastings, tears, almsgiving, and
heavenly contemplation, formed his ideal of holiness. Even lawful
marriage he seems to tolerate, as a Zoar of escape from temptation,
rather than to approve: and for a man to enjoy life as most
people aim at doing—to sit, as it were, under his vine and under
his fig-tree—appeared to him at any rate fraught with
danger. Hence the more of both sexes that were able, and could be
induced, to leave the active duties of life for monastic seclusion, the
better he regarded it for them and for the world in whose behalf they
might thus have leisure to pray. Still, on the other hand, such
ascetic views were not found incompatible in his case with tender
regard for others in their earthly joys and sorrows, and interest in
their family life, as expressed in many kind and sympathetic letters to
friends; and he was ever ready to meet their temporal as well as
spiritual needs. His charitable donations in all directions were
bounded only by his means; all oppression of the poor had in him a
resolute opponent; nor can we but be struck by his keen sense of
justice and regard for it in all his dealings. His gentle
breeding, aided by Christian culture, induced a tone of courtesy, with
delicate consideration for the feelings of others, in his letters
generally; and he usually softens even rebuke with gentleness.
Partly, it may be, to this habit may be traced the tone of flattery,
which has been remarked on elsewhere, in his letters to potentates, or
to others whom it was his purpose to conciliate; which was such indeed
in some cases as to lay him open to a charge of insincerity. On
the other hand, however, it is to be remembered
As a divine he merits his title of a Doctor of the Church. He was, indeed, neither original nor deeply learned; as a mystical interpreter of Scripture he was fanciful, and often, from our point of view, absurd; owing to his visionary turn and his uncritical credulity he may have fostered, and perhaps originated, some fond fables and superstitions, such as infected the general belief of Christians in the middle ages: but he grasped and set forth clearly the orthodox doctrines of the Church; in treating difficult theological questions he displays from time to time no small power of thought and argument; as a preacher of essential Christian morality he was ever sound and true; nor has anyone more insisted on spiritual communion of the individual soul with God, or more strongly maintained the principle of justice, mercy and truth being of the essence of religion.
His diplomatic and practical talents, and his unwearied industry, have been already spoken of, and need no further notice in this brief final survey, the intention of which is to view him rather in his character as a saint and a divine.
————————————
Preface.
The title, Liber Regulæ Pastoralis, is the one adopted by the Benedictine Edition from several ancient mss., being Gregory’s own designation of his work when he sent it to his friend, Leander of Seville;—“Ut librum Regulæ Pastoralis, quem in episcopatus mei exordio scripsi…sanctitati tuæ transmitterem” (Epp. Lib. v., Ep. 49). The previously more usual one, Liber Pastoralis Curæ, may have been taken from the opening words of the book itself, “Pastoralis curæ me pondera fugere, etc.” The book was issued (as appears from the passage above quoted in the Epistle to Leander) at the commencement of Gregory’s episcopacy, and (as appears from its opening words) addressed to John, bishop of Ravenna, in reply to a letter received from him. But, though put into form for a special purpose on this occasion, it must have been the issue of long previous thought, as is further evident from the fact that in his Magna Moralia, or Commentary on the Book of Job, begun and in a great measure written during his residence in Constantinople, he had already sketched the plan of such a treatise, and expressed the hope of some day putting it into form. For we there find the prologue to the third book of the Regula already written, together with most of the headings contained in the first chapter of that book, followed by the words, “And indeed we ought to have denoted particularly what should be the order of admonition with respect to each of these points; but fear of prolixity deters us. Yet, with God’s help, we hope to complete this task in another work, should some little time of this laborious life still remain to us” (Moral. Lib. xxx. c. 12 and 13).
The book appears to have been estimated as it
deserved during the writer’s life. It was sent by him, as
we have seen, to Leander of Seville, apparently at the request of the
latter, for the benefit of the Church in Spain; and there will be found
among the Epistles one addressed to Gregory from Licinianus, a learned
bishop of Carthagena in that country, in which it is highly praised,
though a fear is expressed lest the standard required in it of fitness
for the episcopal office might prove too high for ordinary attainment
(Epp. Lib. II., Ep. 54). The Emperor Maurice,
having requested and obtained a copy of it from Anatolius,
Gregory’s deacon at Constantinople, had it translated into Greek
by Anastasius the patriarch of Antioch, who himself highly approved of
it (Epp. Lib. XII., Ep. 24). It appears to have
been taken to England by the Monk Augustine. This is asserted by
Alfred the Great, who, nearly three hundred years afterwards, with the
assistance of his divines, made a translation, or rather paraphrase, of
it in the West Saxon tongue, intending, as he says, to send a copy to
every bishop in his Kingdom Edited, with an
English version, by Henry Sweet of Balliol College, and published for
the Early English Text Society, 1871, Part I., p. 7.
Previously to this, there is evidence of the high
repute in which the book was held in Gaul. In a series of
councils held by command of Charlemagne, a.d.
813,—viz. at Mayence,
Concil. Mogunt.
Præfat.;—Concil. Rhemens. II., Canon
x.;—Concil. Turon. III., Canon iii.;—Concil.
Cabilon. II., Canon i. Concil.
Aquisgran., cap. i., De Vita Episcoporum, can. 7, 9,
10; cap. 2, De doctrina episcoporum. Hincmar.
Opp. tom. ii. p. 389, Ed. Paris, 1645.
The work is well worthy of its old repute, being the best of its kind, and profitable for all ages. Two similar works had preceded it. First, that of Gregory Nazianzen (c. a.d. 362), known as his second oration, and called τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἀπολογητικός , which was written, like that of the later Gregory, to excuse the writer’s reluctance to accept the episcopate, and to set forth the responsibilities of the office. It is obvious, from comparing the two treatises, that the earlier had suggested the later one; and indeed Pope Gregory acknowledges his indebtedness in his prologue to the second book of the Regula. The second somewhat similar treatise had been that of Chrysostom, ‘De Sacerdotio,’ in six books, c. a.d. 382. It also sets forth the awful responsibilities of the episcopal office; but there are no signs of pope Gregory having drawn from it.
It is to be observed that the subject of all these treatises is the office of episcopacy; not the pastoral or priestly office in its wider sense, as now commonly understood: and it is noteworthy how prominent in Gregory’s view of it are the duties of preaching and spiritual guidance of souls. It is regarded, indeed, in the first place as an office of government—locus regiminis, culmen regiminis, denote it frequently—and hence the exercise of discipline comes prominently in; and the chief pastor is viewed also as an intercessor between his flock and God—See e.g. I. 10;—but it is especially as a teacher, and a physician of souls, that he is spoken of throughout the treatise; as one whose peculiar duty it is to be conversant with all forms of spiritual disease, and so be able to suit his treatment to all cases, to “preach the word, reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long suffering and doctrine,” and both by precept and example guide souls in the way of salvation. Gregory had not studied in vain the Pastoral Epistles of St. Paul. Remarkable indeed is his own discriminating insight, displayed throughout, into human characters and motives, and his perception of the temptations to which circumstances or temperament render various people—pastors as well as members of their flocks—peculiarly liable. No less striking, in this as in other works of his, is his intimate acquaintance with the whole of Holy Scripture. He knew it indeed through the Latin version only; his critical knowledge is frequently at fault; and far-fetched mystical interpretations, such as he delighted in, abound. But as a true expounder of its general moral and religious teaching he well deserves his name as one of the great Doctors of the Church. And, further, notwithstanding all his reverence for Councils and Fathers, as paramount authorities in matters of faith, it is to Scripture that he ever appeals as the final authority for conduct and belief.
The Book of Pastoral Rule
of
Saint Gregory the Great,
Roman Pontiff,
to John, Bishop of the City of Ravenna.
————————————
Part I.
Gregory to his most reverend and most holy brother and fellow-bishop, John.
With kind and humble intent thou reprovest me, dearest brother, for having wished by hiding myself to fly from the burdens of pastoral care; as to which, lest to some they should appear light, I express with my pen in the book before you all my own estimate of their heaviness, in order both that he who is free from them may not unwarily seek them, and that he who has so sought them may tremble for having got them. This book is divided into four separate heads of argument, that it may approach the reader’s mind by allegations arranged in order—by certain steps, as it were. For, as the necessity of things requires, we must especially consider after what manner every one should come to supreme rule; and, duly arriving at it, after what manner he should live; and, living well, after what manner he should teach; and, teaching aright, with how great consideration every day he should become aware of his own infirmity; lest either humility fly from the approach, or life be at variance with the arrival, or teaching be wanting to the life, or presumption unduly exalt the teaching. Wherefore, let fear temper the desire; but afterwards, authority being assumed by one who sought it not, let his life commend it. But then it is necessary that the good which is displayed in the life of the pastor should also be propagated by his speech. And at last it remains that, whatever works are brought to perfection, consideration of our own infirmity should depress us with regard to them, lest the swelling of elation extinguish even them before the eyes of hidden judgment. But inasmuch as there are many, like me in unskilfulness, who, while they know not how to measure themselves, are covetous of teaching what they have not learned; who estimate lightly the burden of authority in proportion as they are ignorant of the pressure of its greatness; let them be reproved from the very beginning of this book; so that, while, unlearned and precipitate, they desire to hold the citadel of teaching, they may be repelled at the very door of our discourse from the ventures of their precipitancy.
Chapter I.
That the unskilful venture not to approach an office of authority.
No one presumes to teach
an art till he has first, with intent meditation, learnt it. What
rashness is it, then, for the unskilful to assume pastoral authority,
since the government of souls is the art of arts! For who can be
ignorant that the sores of the thoughts of men are more occult than the
sores of the bowels? And yet how often do men who have no
knowledge whatever of spiritual precepts fearlessly profess themselves
physicians of the heart, though those who are ignorant of the effect of
drugs blush to appear as physicians of the flesh! But because,
through the ordering of God, all the highest
in rank of this present age are inclined to reverence religion, there
are some who, through the outward show of rule within the holy Church,
affect the glory of distinction. They desire to appear as
teachers, they covet superiority to others, and,
In this passage the
phrase magisterium humilitatis has reference to In
Hebr. and Engl. lxix. 24.
Chapter II.
That none should enter on a place of government who practise not in life what they have learnt by study.
There are some also who investigate spiritual
precepts with cunning care, but what they penetrate with their
understanding they trample on in their lives: all at once they
teach the things which not by practice but by study they have learnt;
and what in words they preach by their manners they impugn.
Whence it comes to pass that when the shepherd walks through steep
places, the flock follows to the precipice. Hence it is that the
Lord through the prophet complains of the
contemptible knowledge of shepherds, saying, When ye yourselves had
drunk most pure water, ye fouled the residue with your feet; and My
sheep fed on that which had been trodden by your feet, and drank that
which your feet had fouled (
Chapter III.
Of the weight of government; and that all manner of adversity is to be despised, and prosperity feared.
So much, then, have we briefly said, to shew how great
is the weight of government, lest whosoever is unequal to sacred
offices of government should dare to profane them, and through lust of
pre-eminence undertake a leadership of perdition. For hence it is
that James affectionately deters us, saying, Be not made many masters,
my brethren (
Chapter IV.
That for the most part the occupation of government dissipates the solidity of the mind.
Often the care of government, when undertaken,
distracts the heart in divers directions; and one is found unequal to
dealing with particular things, while with confused mind divided among
many. Whence a certain wise man providently dissuades, saying,
My son, meddle not with many matters (
But after this, elevated by the success of his
dominion, and rejoicing in having done great things, he first preferred
himself to all in thought, and afterwards, still vain-glorious, said,
Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the
kingdom, and in the might of my power, and for the honour of my
majesty? (
Chapter V.
Of those who are able to profit others by virtuous example in supreme rule, but fly from it in pursuit of their own ease.
For there are some who are eminently endowed with
virtues, and for the training of others are exalted by great gifts, who
are pure in zeal for chastity, strong in the might of abstinence,
filled with the feasts of doctrine, humble in the long-suffering of
patience, erect in the fortitude of authority, tender in the grace of
loving-kindness, strict in the severity of justice. Truly such as
these, if when called they refuse to undertake offices of supreme rule,
for the most part deprive themselves of the very gifts which they
received not for themselves alone, but for others also; and, while they
meditate their own and not another’s gain, they forfeit the very
benefits which they desire to keep to themselves. For hence it
was that the Truth said to His disciples, A city that is set on an
hill cannot be hid: neither do they light a candle and put it
under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that it may give light to all
that are in the house (
Chapter VI.
That those who fly from the burden of rule through humility are then truly humble when they resist not the divine decrees.
There are some also who fly by reason only of their humility, lest they should be preferred to others to whom they esteem themselves unequal. And theirs, indeed, if it be surrounded by other virtues, is then true humility before the eyes of God, when it is not pertinacious in rejecting what it is enjoined to undertake with profit. For neither is he truly humble, who understands how the good pleasure of the Supernal Will ought to bear sway, and yet contemns its sway. But, submitting himself to the divine disposals, and averse from the vice of obstinacy, if he be already prevented with gifts whereby he may profit others also, he ought, when enjoined to undertake supreme rule, in his heart to flee from it, but against his will to obey.
Chapter VII.
That sometimes some laudably desire the office of preaching, while others, as laudably, are drawn to it by compulsion.
Although sometimes some laudably desire the office
of preaching, yet others are as laudably drawn to it by compulsion; as
we plainly perceive, if we consider the conduct of two prophets, one of
whom offered himself of his own accord to be sent to preach, yet the
other in fear refused to go. For Isaiah, when the Lord asked whom He should send, offered himself of his own
accord, saying, Here I am; send me (
Chapter VIII.
Of those who covet pre-eminence, and seize on the language of the Apostle to serve the purpose of their own cupidity.
But for the most part those who covet pre-eminence
seize on the language of the Apostle to serve the purpose of their own
cupidity, where he says, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he
desireth a good work (
Chapter IX.
That the mind of those who wish for pre-eminence for the most part flatters itself with a feigned promise of good works.
But for the most part those who covet pastoral authority
mentally propose to themselves some good works besides, and, though
desiring it with a motive of pride, still muse how they will effect
great things: and so it comes to pass that the motive suppressed
in the depths of the heart is one thing, another what the surface of
thought presents to the muser’s mind. For the mind itself
lies to itself about itself, and feigns with respect to good work to
love what it does not love, and with respect to the world’s glory
not to love what it does love. Eager for domination, it becomes
timid with regard to it while in pursuit, audacious after
attainment. For, while advancing towards it, it is in trepidation
lest it should not attain it; but all at once, on having attained,
thinks what it has attained to be its just due. And, when it has
once begun to enjoy the office of its acquired dominion in a worldly
way, it willingly forgets what it has cogitated in a religious
way. Hence it is necessary that, when such cogitation is extended
beyond wont, the mind’s eye should be recalled to works already
accomplished, and that every one should consider what he has done as a
subordinate; and so may he at once discover whether as a prelate he
will be able to do the good things he has proposed to do. For one
can by no means learn humility in a high place who has not ceased to be
proud while occupying a low one: one knows not how to fly from
praise when it abounds, who has learnt to pant for it when it was
wanting: one can by no means overcome avarice, when advanced to
the sustentation of many, whom his own means could not suffice for
himself alone. Wherefore from his past life let every one
discover what he is, lest in his craving for eminence the phantom of
his cogitation illude him. Nevertheless it is generally the case
that the very practice of good deeds which was maintained in
tranquillity is lost in the occupation of government; since even an
unskilful person guides a ship along a straight course in a calm sea;
but in one disturbed by the waves of tempest even the skilled sailor is
confounded. For what is eminent dominion but a tempest of the
mind, in which the ship of the heart is ever shaken by hurricanes of
thought, is incessantly driven hither and thither, so as to be
shattered by sudden excesses of word and deed, as if by opposing
rocks? In the midst of all these dangers, then, what course is to
be followed, what is to be held to, except that one who abounds in
virtues should accede to government under compulsion, and that one who
is void of virtues should not, even under compulsion, approach
it? As to the former, let him beware lest, if he refuses
altogether, he be as one who binds up in a napkin the money which he
has received, and be judged for hiding it (
Chapter X.
What manner of man ought to come to rule.
That man, therefore, ought by all means to be
drawn with cords to be an example of good living who already lives
spiritually, dying to all passions of the flesh; who disregards worldly
prosperity; who is afraid of no adversity; who desires only inward
wealth; whose intention the body, in good accord with it, thwarts not
at all by its frailness, nor the spirit greatly by its disdain:
one who is not led to covet the things of others, but gives freely of
his own; who through the bowels of compassion is quickly moved to
pardon, yet is never bent down from the fortress of rectitude by
pardoning more than is meet; who perpetrates no unlawful deeds, yet
deplores those perpetrated by others as though they were his own; who
out of affection of heart sympathizes with another’s infirmity,
and so rejoices in the good of his neighbour as though it were his own
advantage; who so insinuates himself as an example to others in all he
does that among them he has nothing, at any rate of his own past deeds,
to blush for; who studies so to live that he may be able to water even
dry hearts with the streams of doctrine; who has already learnt by the
use and trial of prayer that he can obtain what he has requested from
the Lord, having had already said to him, as
it were, through the voice of experience, While thou art yet
speaking, I will say, Here am I (
Chapter XI.
What manner of man ought not to come to rule.
Wherefore let every one measure himself wisely,
lest he venture to assume a place of rule, while in himself vice still
reigns unto condemnation; lest one whom his own guilt depraves desire
to become an intercessor for the faults of others. For on this
account it is said to Moses by the supernal voice, Speak unto Aaron;
Whosoever he be of thy seed throughout their generations that hath a
blemish, he shall not offer loaves of bread to the Lord his God
( The designations
here given of the bodily imperfections, enumerated in
For, as impetigo invades the body without
pain, and, spreading with no annoyance to him whom it invades,
disfigures the comeliness of the members, so avarice, too, exulcerates,
while it pleases, the mind of one who is captive to it. As it
offers to the thought one thing after another to be gained, it kindles
the fire of enmities, and gives no pain with the wounds it causes,
because it promises to the fevered mind abundance out
And now, having briefly shewn after what manner one who is worthy should come to pastoral authority, and after what manner one who is unworthy should be greatly afraid, let us now demonstrate after what manner one who has attained to it worthily should live in it.
Part II.
Of the Life of the Pastor.
Chapter I.
How one who has in due order arrived at a place of rule ought to demean himself in it.
The conduct of a prelate ought so far to transcend the conduct of the people as the life of a shepherd is wont to exalt him above the flock. For one whose estimation is such that the people are called his flock is bound anxiously to consider what great necessity is laid upon him to maintain rectitude. It is necessary, then, that in thought he should be pure, in action chief; discreet in keeping silence, profitable in speech; a near neighbour to every one in sympathy, exalted above all in contemplation; a familiar friend of good livers through humility, unbending against the vices of evil-doers through zeal for righteousness; not relaxing in his care for what is inward from being occupied in outward things, nor neglecting to provide for outward things in his solicitude for what is inward. But the things which we have thus briefly touched on let us now unfold and discuss more at length.
Chapter II.
That the ruler should be pure in thought.
The ruler should always be pure in thought,
inasmuch as no impurity ought to pollute him who has undertaken the
office of wiping away the stains of pollution in the hearts of others
also; for the hand that would cleanse from dirt must needs be clean,
lest, being itself sordid with clinging mire, it soil whatever it
touches all the more. For on this account it is said through the
prophet, Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord ( For
breastplate (A.V.) the LXX. has λογεῖον, and the
Vulgate, from which St. Gregory quotes, rationale. On the
significance of this word the application depends. Anciently an
ornament called the rationale was attached to the vestments of
bishops. “Rationale…Ornamenti genus quo ornantur
casulæ aliaque vestes ecclesiasticæ” (Ducange).
The vestment itself seems also to have been sometimes called the
rationale. “Vestis episcopalis novæ
legis, le pallium” (Ib.). For Urim and
Thummim (as in A.V., retaining the Hebrew words), the LXX. has
τὴν
δήλωσιν καὶ
τὴν
ἀλήθειαν, and the
Vulgate, quoted by St. Gregory, Doctrinam et Veritatem.
Chapter III.
That the ruler should be always chief in action.
The ruler should always be chief in action, that
by his living he may point out the way of life to those that are put
under him, and that the flock, which follows the voice and manners of
the shepherd, may learn how to walk better through example than through
words. For he who is required by the necessity of his position to
speak the highest things is compelled by the same necessity to exhibit
the highest things. For that voice more readily penetrates the
hearer’s heart, which the speaker’s life commends, since
what he commands by speaking he helps the doing of by shewing.
Hence it is said through the prophet, Get thee up into the high
mountain, thou that bringest good tidings to Sion
(
Chapter IV.
That the ruler should be discreet in keeping silence, profitable in speech.
The ruler should be discreet in keeping silence,
profitable in speech; lest he either utter what ought to be suppressed
or suppress what he ought to utter. For, as incautious speaking
leads into error, so indiscreet silence leaves in error those who might
have been instructed. For often improvident rulers, fearing to
lose human favour, shrink timidly from speaking freely the things that
are right; and, according to the voice of the Truth ( Opportune,
importune, the second word being apparently understood in the sense
of importunately.
Chapter V.
That the ruler should be a near neighbour to every one in compassion, and exalted above all in contemplation.
The ruler should be a near neighbour to every one in
sympathy, and exalted above all in contemplation, so that through the
bowels of loving-kindness he may transfer the infirmities of others to
himself, and by loftiness
Chapter VI.
That the ruler should be, through humility, a companion of good livers, but, through the zeal of righteousness, rigid against the vices of evildoers.
The ruler should be, through humility, a companion
of good livers, and, through the zeal of righteousness, rigid against
the vices of evil-doers; so that in nothing he prefer himself to the
good, and yet, when the fault of the bad requires it, he be at once
conscious of the power of his priority; to the end that, while among
his subordinates who live well he waives his rank and accounts them as
his equals, he may not fear to execute the laws of rectitude towards
the perverse. For, as I remember to have said in my book on
morals (Lib. xxi., Moral, cap. 10, nunc. n. 22),
it is clear that nature produced all men equal; but, through variation
in the order of their merits, guilt puts some below others. But
the very diversity which has accrued from vice is ordered by divine
judgment, so that, since all men cannot stand on an equal footing, one
should be ruled by another. Hence all who are over others ought
to consider in themselves not the authority of their rank, but the
equality of their condition and rejoice not to be over men, but to do
them good. For indeed our ancient fathers are said to have been
not kings of men, but shepherds of flocks. And, when the
Lord said to Noe and his children, Increase
and multiply, and replenish the earth (
But commonly a ruler, from the very fact of his
being pre-eminent over others, is puffed up with elation of thought;
and, while all things serve his need, while his commands are quickly
executed after his desire, while all his subjects extol with praises
what he has done well, but have no authority to speak against what he
has done amiss, and while they commonly praise even what they ought to
have reproved, his mind, seduced by what is offered in abundance from
below, is lifted up above itself; and, while outwardly surrounded by
unbounded favour, he loses his inward sense of truth; and, forgetful of
himself, he scatters himself on the voices of other men, and believes
himself to be such as outwardly he hears himself called rather than
such as he ought inwardly to have judged himself to be. He looks
down on those who are under him, nor does he acknowledge them as in the
order of nature his equals; and those whom he has surpassed in the
accident of power he believes himself to have transcended also in the
merits of his life; he esteems himself wiser than all whom he sees
himself to excel in power. For indeed he establishes himself in
his own mind on a certain lofty eminence, and, though bound together in
the same condition of nature with others, he disdains to regard others
from the same level; and so he comes to be even like him of whom it is
written, He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all
the children of pride (
But we shall more fully understand this
distinction, if we look at the examples given by the first
pastor. For Peter, who had received from God the principality of Holy Church, from Cornelius,
acting well and prostrating himself humbly before him, refused to
accept immoderate veneration, saying, Stand up; do it not; I myself
also am a man (
Supreme rule, then, is ordered well, when he who
presides lords it over vices, rather than over his brethren. But,
when superiors correct their delinquent subordinates, it remains for
them anxiously to take heed how far, while in right of their authority
they smite faults with due discipline, they still, through custody of
humility, acknowledge themselves to be on a par with the very brethren
who are corrected; although for the most part it is becoming that in
our silent thought we even prefer the brethren whom we correct to
ourselves. For their vices are through us smitten with the vigour
of discipline; but in those which we ourselves commit we are lacerated
by not even a word of upbraiding. Wherefore we are by so much the
more bounden before the Lord as among men we
sin unpunished: but our discipline renders our subordinates by so
much the freer from divine judgment, as it leaves not their faults
without retribution here. Therefore, in the heart humility should
be maintained, and in action discipline. And all the time there
is need of sagacious insight, lest, through excessive custody of the
virtue of humility, the just claims of government be relaxed, and lest,
while any superior lowers himself more than is fit, he be unable to
restrain the lives of his subordinates under the bond of
discipline. Let rulers, then, maintain outwardly what they
undertake for the benefit of others: let them retain inwardly
what makes them fearful in their estimate of themselves. But
still let even their subjects perceive, by certain signs coming out
becomingly, that in themselves they are humble; so as both to see
something to be afraid of in their authority, and to acknowledge
something to imitate with respect to humility. Therefore let
those who preside study without intermission that in proportion as
their power is seen to be great externally it be kept down within
themselves internally; that it vanquish not their thought; that
the
That the ruler relax not his care for the things that are within in his occupation among the things that are without, nor neglect to provide for the things that are without in his solicitude for the things that are within.
The ruler should not relax his care for the things
that are within in his occupation among the things that are without,
nor neglect to provide for the things that are without in his
solicitude for the things that are within; lest either, given up to the
things that are without, he fall away from his inmost concerns, or,
occupied only with the things that are within bestow not on his
neighbours outside himself what he owes them. For it is often the
case that some, as if forgetting that they have been put over their
brethren for their souls’ sake, devote themselves with the whole
effort of their heart to secular concerns; these, when they are at
hand, they exult in transacting, and, even when there is a lack of
them, pant after them night and day with seethings of turbid thought;
and when, haply for lack of opportunity, they have quiet from them, by
their very quiet they are wearied all the more. For they count it
pleasure to be tired by action: they esteem it labour not to
labour in earthly businesses. And so it comes to pass that, while
they delight in being hustled by worldly tumults, they are ignorant of
the things that are within, which they ought to have taught to
others. And from this cause undoubtedly, the life also of their
subjects is benumbed; because, while desirous of advancing spiritually,
it meets a stumbling-block on the way in the example of him who is set
over it. For when the head languishes, the members fail to
thrive; and it is in vain for an army to follow swiftly in pursuit of
enemies if the very leader of the march goes wrong. No
exhortation sustains the minds of the subjects, and no reproof
chastises their faults, because, while the office of an earthly judge
is executed by the guardian of souls, the attention of the shepherd is
diverted from custody of the flock; and the subjects are unable to
apprehend the light of truth, because, while earthly pursuits occupy
the pastor’s mind, dust, driven by the wind of temptation, blinds
the Church’s eyes. To guard against this, the Redeemer of
the human race, when He would restrain us from gluttony, saying,
Take heed to yourselves that your hearts be not overcharged with
surfeiting and drunkenness (
By the subjects, then, inferior matters are to be
transacted, by the rulers the highest thought of; so that no annoyance
of dust may darken the eye which is placed aloft for looking forward to
the onward steps. For all who preside are the head of their
subjects; and, that the feet may be able to take a straight course, the
head ought undoubtedly to look forward to it from above, lest the feet
linger on their onward journey, the body being bent from its
uprightness and the head bowed down to the earth. But with what
conscience can the overseer of souls avail himself among other men of
his pastoral dignity, while engaged himself in the earthly cares which
it was his duty to reprehend in others? And this indeed is what
the Lord, in the wrath of just retribution,
menaced through the prophet, saying, And there shall be like people,
like priest (
Further, there is nothing to hinder us from taking
the stones of the sanctuary to be those of which the sanctuary was
itself constructed; which lie scattered in the top of the streets when
men in sacred orders, in whose office the glory of holiness had
previously seemed to stand, devote themselves out of preference to
earthly doings. Secular employments, therefore, though they may
sometimes be endured out of compassion, should never be sought after
out of affection for the things themselves; lest, while they weigh down
the mind of him who loves them, they sink it, overcome by its own
burden, from heavenly places to the lowest. But, on the other
hand, there are some who undertake the care of the flock, but desire to
be so at leisure for their own spiritual concerns as to be in no wise
occupied with external things. Such persons, in neglecting all
care for what pertains to the body, by no means meet the needs of those
who are put under them. And certainly their preaching is for the
most part despised; because, while they find fault with the deeds of
sinners, but nevertheless afford them not the necessaries of the
present life, they are not at all willingly listened to. For the
word of doctrine penetrates not the mind of one that is in need, if the
hand of compassion commends it not to his heart. But the seed of
the word readily germinates, when the loving-kindness of the preacher
waters it in the hearer’s breast. Whence, for a ruler to be
able to infuse what may profit inwardly, it is necessary for him, with
blameless consideration, to provide also for outward things. Let
pastors, then, so glow with ardour in regard to the inward affections
of those they have the charge of as not to relinquish provision also
for their outward life. For, as we have said, the heart of the
flock is, even as it were of right, set against preaching, if the care
of external succour be neglected by the pastor. Whence also the
first pastor anxiously admonishes, saying, The elders which are
among you I beseech, who am also an elder, and a witness of the
sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be
revealed, feed the flock of God which is among
you ( The wording
of this passage is obscure and may be corrupt. In a corresponding
one in Gregory’s Epistles (Lib. VII. Ep. 4), in
other respects the same as this, we find, instead of “et
rursus per moderatam cordis intentionem non impeditur,”
“et rursus per immoderatam cordis intentio
non impeditur.” Here, though non before
impeditur is absent from many mss., and consequently rejected by the Benedictine
editors, it seems necessary for the sense. The whole passage is
thus capable of being intelligibly rendered thus: “When,
therefore through provident care (providentiam)
externally applied the life of bodies is protected, and again
intentness of heart is not impeded through immoderate
(providentiam).” In both passages the general drift
is clear enough, as follows: When, through adequate taking
thought on the part of the priest for people’s bodily needs,
their life is protected from harm, and yet his attention to such
external matters is not so excessive as to hinder the devotion of his
heart to spiritual things, then the meaning of Ezekiel’s words is
fulfilled. For the hairs of the head, denoting thoughts of the
brain for temporal concerns, are allowed to advance so far as to afford
needful protection, but not to such an immoderate extent as to obscure
the sight of the eyes, i.e. spiritual vision.
Chapter VIII.
That the ruler should not set his heart on pleasing men, and yet should give heed to what ought to please them.
Meanwhile it is also necessary for the ruler to
keep wary watch, lest the lust of pleasing men assail him; lest, when
he studiously penetrates the things that are within, and providently
supplies the things that are without, he seek to be beloved of those
that are under him more than truth; lest, while, supported by his good
deeds, he seems not to belong to the world, self-love estrange him from
his Maker. For he is the Redeemer’s enemy who through the
good works which he does covets being loved by the Church instead of
Him; since a servant whom the bridegroom has sent with gifts to the
bride is guilty of treacherous thought if he desires to please the eyes
of the bride. And in truth this self-love, when it has got
possession of a ruler’s mind, sometimes carries it away
inordinately to softness, but sometimes to roughness. For from
love of himself the ruler’s mind is inclined to softness,
because, when he observes those that are under him sinning, he does not
presume to reprove them, lest their affection for himself should grow
dull; nay sometimes he smooths down with flatteries the offence of his
subordinates which he ought to have rebuked. Hence it is well
said through the prophet, Woe unto them that sew cushions under
every elbow, and make pillows under the head of every stature to catch
souls (
Chapter IX.
That the ruler ought to be careful to understand how commonly vices pass themselves off as virtues.
The ruler also ought to understand how commonly vices pass themselves off as virtues. For often niggardliness palliates itself under the name of frugality, and on the other hand prodigality hides itself under the appellation of liberality. Often inordinate laxity is believed to be loving-kindness, and unbridled wrath is accounted the virtue of spiritual zeal. Often precipitate action is taken for the efficacy of promptness, and tardiness for the deliberation of seriousness. Whence it is necessary for the ruler of souls to distinguish with vigilant care between virtues and vices, lest either niggardliness get possession of his heart while he exults in seeming frugal in expenditure; or, while anything is prodigally wasted, he glory in being as it were compassionately liberal; or in remitting what he ought to have smitten he draw on those that are under him to eternal punishment; or in mercilessly smiting an offence he himself offend more grievously; or by immaturely anticipating mar what might have been done properly and gravely; or by putting off the merit of a good action change it to something worse.
Chapter X.
What the ruler’s discrimination should be between correction and connivance, between fervour and gentleness.
It should be known too that the vices of subjects
ought sometimes to be prudently connived at, but indicated in that they
are connived at; that things, even though openly known, ought sometimes
to be seasonably tolerated, but sometimes, though hidden, be closely
investigated; that they ought sometimes to be gently reproved, but
sometimes vehemently censured. For, indeed, some things, as we
have said, ought to be prudently connived at, but indicated in that
they are connived at, so that, when the delinquent is aware that he is
discovered and borne with, he may blush to augment those faults which
he considers in himself are tolerated in silence, and may punish
himself in his own judgment as being one whom the patience of his ruler
in his own mind mercifully excuses. By such connivance the
Lord well reproves Judah, when He says through
the prophet, Thou hast lied, and hast not remembered Me, nor laid it
to thy heart, because I have held My peace and been as one that saw
not (
Some hidden things, however, ought to be closely
investigated, that, by the breaking out of certain symptoms, the ruler
may discover all that lies closely hidden in the minds of his
subordinates, and, by reproof intervening at the nick of time, from
very small things become aware of greater ones. Whence it is
rightly said to Ezekiel, Son of man, dig in the wall
(
Some things, however, ought to be gently
reproved: for, when fault is committed, not of malice, but only
from ignorance or infirmity, it is certainly necessary that the very
censure of it be tempered with great moderation. For it is true
that all of us, so long as we subsist in this mortal flesh, are subject
to the infirmities of our corruption. Every one, therefore, ought
to gather from himself how it behoves him to pity another’s
weakness, lest, if he be too fervently hurried to words of reprehension
against a neighbour’s infirmity, he should seem to be forgetful
of his own. Whence Paul admonishes well, when he says, If a
man be overtaken in any fault, ye which are spiritual restore such an
one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be
tempted (
For indeed holy teachers take unto themselves a tile, when they lay hold of the earthly heart of hearers in order to teach them: which tile in truth they lay before themselves, because they keep watch over it with the entire bent of their mind: on which tile also they are commanded to pourtray the city Jerusalem, because they are at the utmost pains to represent to earthy hearts by preaching a vision of supernal peace. But, because the glory of the heavenly country is perceived in vain, unless it be known also what great temptations of the crafty enemy assail us here, it is fitly subjoined, And thou shalt lay siege against it, and build forts. For indeed holy preachers lay siege about the tile on which the city Jerusalem is delineated, when to a mind that is earthy but already seeking after the supernal country they shew how great an opposition of vices in the time of this life is arrayed against it. For, when it is shewn how each several sin besets us in our onward course, it is as though a siege were laid round the city Jerusalem by the voice of the preacher. But, because preachers ought not only to make known how vices assail us, but also how well-guarded virtues strengthen us, it is rightly subjoined, And thou shalt build forts. For indeed the holy preacher builds forts, when he shews what virtues resist what vices. And because, as virtue increases, the wars of temptation are for the most part augmented, it is rightly further added, And thou shalt cast a mount, and set camps against it, and set battering rams round about. For, when any preacher sets forth the mass of increasing temptation, he casts a mount. And he sets camps against Jerusalem when to the right intention of his hearers he foretells the unsurveyed, and as it were incomprehensible, ambuscades of the cunning enemy. And he sets battering-rams round about, when he makes known the darts of temptation encompassing us on every side in this life, and piercing through our wall of virtues.
But although the ruler may nicely insinuate all these things, he procures not for himself lasting absolution, unless he glow with a spirit of jealousy against the delinquencies of all and each. Whence in that place it is further rightly subjoined, And do thou take to thee an iron frying-pan, and thou shalt set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city. For by the frying-pan is denoted a frying of the mind, and by iron the hardness of reproof.
But what more fiercely fries and excruciates the
teacher’s mind than zeal for God?
Hence Paul was being burnt with the frying of this frying-pan when he
said, Who is made weak, and I am not made weak? Who is
offended, and I burn not? (
But meanwhile it is to be borne in mind that, while the
mind of the teacher exasperates itself for rebuke, it is very difficult
for him to avoid breaking out into saying something that he ought not
to say. And for the most part it happens that, when the faults of
subordinates are reprehended with severe invective, the tongue of the
master is betrayed into excess of language. And, when rebuke is
immoderately hot, the hearts of the delinquents are depressed to
despair. Wherefore it is necessary for the exasperated ruler,
when he considers that he has wounded more than he
Chapter XI.
How intent the ruler ought to be on meditations in the Sacred Law.
But all this is duly executed by a ruler, if,
inspired by the spirit of heavenly fear and love, he meditate daily on
the precepts of Sacred Writ, that the words of Divine admonition may
restore in him the power of solicitude and of provident circumspection
with regard to the celestial life, which familiar intercourse with men
continually destroys; and that one who is drawn to oldness of life by
secular society may by the aspiration of compunction be ever renewed to
love of the spiritual country. For the heart runs greatly to
waste in the midst of human talk; and, since it is undoubtedly evident
that, when driven by the tumults of external occupations, it loses its
balance and falls, one ought incessantly to take care that through keen
pursuit of instruction it may rise again. For hence it is that
Paul admonishes his disciple who had been put over the flock, saying,
Till I come, give attendance to reading (
Part III.
How the Ruler, While Living Well, Ought to Teach and Admonish Those that are Put Under Him.
Prologue.
Since, then, we have shewn what manner of man the pastor ought to be, let us now set forth after what manner he should teach. For, as long before us Gregory Nazianzen of reverend memory has taught, one and the same exhortation does not suit all, inasmuch as neither are all bound together by similarity of character. For the things that profit some often hurt others; seeing that also for the most part herbs which nourish some animals are fatal to others; and the gentle hissing that quiets horses incites whelps; and the medicine which abates one disease aggravates another; and the bread which invigorates the life of the strong kills little children. Therefore according to the quality of the hearers ought the discourse of teachers to be fashioned, so as to suit all and each for their several needs, and yet never deviate from the art of common edification. For what are the intent minds of hearers but, so to speak, a kind of tight tensions of strings in a harp, which the skilful player, that he may produce a tune not at variance with itself, strikes variously? And for this reason the strings render back a consonant modulation, that they are struck indeed with one quill, but not with one kind of stroke. Whence every teacher also, that he may edify all in the one virtue of charity, ought to touch the hearts of his hearers out of one doctrine, but not with one and the same exhortation.
Chapter I.
What diversity there ought to be in the art of preaching.
Differently to be admonished are these that follow:—
Men and women.
The poor and the rich.
The joyful and the sad.
Prelates and subordinates.
Servants and masters.
The wise of this world and the dull.
The impudent and the bashful.
The forward and the fainthearted.
The impatient and the patient.
The kindly disposed and the envious.
The simple and the insincere.
The whole and the sick.
Those who fear scourges, and therefore live innocently; and those who have grown so hard in iniquity as not to be corrected even by scourges.
The too silent, and those who spend time in much speaking.
The slothful and the hasty.
The meek and the passionate.
The humble and the haughty.
The obstinate and the fickle.
The gluttonous and the abstinent.
Those who mercifully give of their own, and those who would fain seize what belongs to others.
Those who neither seize the things of others nor are bountiful with their own; and those who both give away the things they have, and yet cease not to seize the things of others.
Those that are at variance, and those that are at peace.
Lovers of strifes and peacemakers.
Those that understand not aright the words of sacred law; and those who understand them indeed aright, but speak them without humility.
Those who, though able to preach worthily, are afraid through excessive humility; and those whom imperfection or age debars from preaching, and yet rashness impels to it.
Those who prosper in what they desire in temporal matters; and those who covet indeed the things that are of the world, and yet are wearied with the toils of adversity.
Those who are bound by wedlock, and those who are free from the ties of wedlock.
Those who have had experience of carnal intercourse, and those who are ignorant of it.
Those who deplore sins of deed, and those who deplore sins of thought.
Those who bewail misdeeds, yet forsake them not; and those who forsake them, yet bewail them not.
Those who even praise the unlawful things they do; and those who censure what is wrong, yet avoid it not.
Those who are overcome by sudden passion, and those who are bound in guilt of set purpose.
Those who do not even begin what is good, and those who fail entirely to complete the good begun.
Those who do evil secretly and good publicly; and those who conceal the good they do, and yet in some things done publicly allow evil to be thought of them.
But of what profit is it for us to run through all these things collected together in a list, unless we also set forth, with all possible brevity, the modes of admonition for each?
(Admonition 1.) Differently, then, to be admonished are men and women; because on the former heavier injunctions, on the latter lighter are to be laid, that those may be exercised by great things, but these winningly converted by light ones.
(Admonition 2.) Differently to be
admonished are young men and old; because for the most part severity of
admonition directs the former to improvement, while kind remonstrance
disposes the latter to better deeds. For it is written, Rebuke
not an elder, but entreat him as a father (
Chapter II.
How the poor and the rich should be admonished.
(Admonition 3.) Differently to be
admonished are the poor and the rich: for to the former we ought
to offer the solace of comfort against tribulation, but in the latter
to induce fear as against elation. For to the poor one it is said
by the Lord through the prophet, Fear not,
for thou shalt not be confounded (
Sometimes, however, even a proud rich man is to be
propitiated by blandishment in exhortation, since hard sores also are
usually softened by soothing fomentations, and the rage of the insane
is often restored to health by the bland words of the physician, and,
when they are pleasantly humoured, the disease of their insanity is
mitigated. For neither is this to be lightly regarded, that, when
an adverse spirit entered into Saul, David took his harp and assuaged
his madness (
Chapter III.
How the joyful and the sad are to be admonished.
Admonition4. Differently to be
admonished are the joyful and the sad. That is, before the joyful
are to be set the sad things that follow upon punishment; but before
the sad the promised glad things of the kingdom. Let the joyful
learn by the asperity of threatenings what to be afraid of: let
the sad bear what joys of reward they may look forward to. For to
the former it is said, Woe unto you that laugh now! For ye
shall weep (
Chapter IV.
How subjects and prelates are to be admonished.
(Admonition 5.) Differently to be
admonished are subjects and prelates: the former that subjection
crush them not, the latter that superior place elate them not:
the former that they fail not to fulfil what is commanded them, the
latter that they command not more to be fulfilled than is just:
the former that they submit humbly, the latter that they preside
temperately. For this, which may be understood also figuratively,
is said to the former, Children, obey your parents in the
Lord: but to the latter it is
enjoined, And ye, fathers, provoke not your children to wrath
(
Wherefore those who are over others are to be
admonished, that through earnestness of circumspection they have eyes
watchful within and round about, and strive to become living creatures
of heaven (
Subjects are to be admonished that they judge not
rashly the lives of their superiors, if perchance they see them act
blamably in anything, lest whence they rightly find fault with evil
they thence be sunk by the impulse of elation to lower depths.
They are to be admonished that, when they consider the faults of their
superiors, they grow not too bold against them, but, if any of their
deeds are exceedingly bad, so judge of them within themselves that,
constrained by the fear of God, they still
refuse not to bear the yoke of reverence under them. Which thing
we shall shew the better if we bring forward what David did
(
Chapter V.
How servants and masters are to be admonished.
(Admonition 6). Differently to be
admonished are servants and masters. Servants,
Chapter VI.
How the wise and the dull are to be admonished.
(Admonition 7). Differently to be
admonished are the wise of this world and the dull. For the wise
are to be admonished that they leave off knowing what they know:
the dull also are to be admonished that they seek to know what they
know not. In the former this thing first, that they think
themselves wise, is to be thrown down; in the latter whatsoever is
already known of heavenly wisdom is to be built up; since, being in no
wise proud, they have, as it were, prepared their hearts for supporting
a building. With those we should labour that they become more
wisely foolish, leave foolish wisdom, and learn the wise foolishness of
God: to these we should preach that from
what is accounted foolishness they should pass, as from a nearer
neighbourhood, to true wisdom. For to the former it is said,
If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him
become a fool, that he may be wise (
Chapter VII.
How the impudent and bashful are to be admonished.
(Admonition 8). Differently to be
admonished are the impudent and the bashful. For those nothing
but hard rebuke restrains from the vice of impudence; while these for
the most part a modest exhortation disposes to amendment. Those
do not know that they are in fault, unless they be rebuked even by
many; to these it usually suffices for their conversion that the
teacher at least gently reminds them of their evil deeds. For
those one best corrects who reprehends them by direct invective; but to
these greater profit ensues, if what is rebuked in them be touched, as
it were, by a side stroke. Thus the Lord, openly upbraiding the impudent people of the Jews,
saying, There is come unto thee a whore’s forehead; thou
wouldest not blush (
Chapter VIII.
How the forward and the faint-hearted are to be admonished.
(Admonition 9.) Differently to be admonished are the forward and the faint-hearted. For the former, presuming on themselves too much, disdain all others when reproved by them; but the latter, while too conscious of their own infirmity, for the most part fall into despondency. Those count all they do to be singularly eminent; these think what they do to be exceedingly despised, and so are broken down to despondency. Therefore the works of the forward are to be finely sifted by the reprover, that wherein they please themselves they may be shewn to displease God.
For we then best correct the forward, when what they
believe themselves to have done well we shew to have been ill done;
that whence glory is believed to have been gained, thence wholesome
confusion may ensue. But sometimes, when they are not at all
aware of being guilty of the vice of forwardness, they more speedily
come to correction if they are confounded by the infamy of some other
person’s more manifest guilt, sought out from a side quarter;
that from that which they cannot defend, they may be made conscious of
wrongly holding to what they do defend. Whence, when Paul saw the
Corinthians to be forwardly puffed up one against another, so that one
said he was of Paul, another of Apollos, another of Cephas, and another
of Christ (
But on the other hand we more fitly bring back the
faint-hearted to the way of well-doing, if we search collaterally for
some good points about them, so that, while some things in them we
attack with our reproof, others we may embrace with our praise; to the
end that the hearing of praise may nourish their tenderness, which the
rebuking of their fault chastises. And for the most part we make
more way with them for their profit, if we also make mention of their
good deeds; and, in case of some wrong things having been done by them,
if we find not fault with them as though they were already perpetrated,
but, as it were, prohibit them as what ought not to be perpetrated;
that so both the favour shewn may increase the things which we approve,
and our modest exhortation avail more with the faint-hearted against
the things which we blame. Whence the same Paul, when he came to
know that the Thessalonians, who stood fast in the preaching which they
had received, were troubled with a certain faint-heartedness as though
the end of the world were nigh at hand, first praises that wherein he
sees them to be strong, and afterwards, with cautious admonition,
strengthens what was weak. For he says, We are bound to thank
God always for you, brethren, as it is meet,
because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every
one of you all toward each other aboundeth; so that we ourselves too
glory in you in the churches of God for your
patience and faith (
Chapter IX.
How the impatient and the patient are to be admonished.
(Admonition 10.) Differently to be
admonished are the impatient and the patient. For the impatient
are to be told that, while
Further, through this vice of impatience for the
most part the sin of arrogance pierces the mind; since, when any one is
impatient of being looked down upon in this world, he endeavours to
shew off any hidden good that he may have, and so through impatience is
drawn on to arrogance; and, while he cannot bear contempt, he glories
ostentatiously in self-display. Whence it is written, Better
is the patient than the arrogant (
On the other hand the patient are to be admonished that
they grieve not inwardly for what they bear outwardly, lest they spoil
with the infection of malice within a sacrifice of so great value which
without they offer whole;
The patient therefore should be told to study to
love those whom they must needs bear with; lest, if love follow not
patience, the virtue exhibited be turned to a worse fault of
hatred. Whence Paul, when he said, Charity is patient,
forthwith added, Is kind (
For it usually comes to pass with the patient that at the time, indeed, when they suffer hardships, or hear insults, they are smitten with no vexation, and so exhibit patience as to fail not to keep also innocence of heart; but, when after a while they recall to memory these very same things that they have endured, they inflame themselves with the fire of vexation, they seek reasons for vengeance, and, in retracting, turn into malice the meekness which they had in bearing. Such are the sooner succoured by the preacher, if the cause of this change be disclosed. For the cunning adversary wages war against two; that is, by inflaming one to be the first to offer insults, and provoking the other to return insults under a sense of injury. But for the most part, while he is already conqueror of him who has been persuaded to inflict the injury, he is conquered by him who bears the infliction with an equal mind. Wherefore, being victorious over the one whom he has subjugated by incensing him, he lifts himself with all his might against the other, and is grieved at his firmly resisting and conquering; and so, because he has been unable to move him in the very flinging of insults, he rests meanwhile from open contest, and provoking his thought by secret suggestion, seeks a fit time for deceiving him. For, having lost in public warfare, he burns to lay hidden snares. In a time of quiet he returns to the mind of the conqueror, brings back to his memory either temporal harms or darts of insults, and by exceedingly exaggerating all that has been inflicted on him represents it as intolerable: and with so great vexation does he perturb the mind that for the most part the patient one, led captive after victory, blushes for having borne such things calmly, and is sorry that he did not return insults, and seeks to pay back something worse, should opportunity be afforded. To whom, then, are these like but to those who by bravery are victorious in the field, but by negligence are afterwards taken within the gates of the city? To whom are they like but to those whom a violent attack of sickness removes not from life, but who die from a relapse of fever coming gently on? Therefore the patient are to be admonished, that they guard their heart after victory; that they be on the lookout for the enemy, overcome in open warfare, laying snares against the walls of their mind; that they be the more afraid of a sickness creeping on again; lest the cunning enemy, should he afterwards deceive them, rejoice with the greater exultation in that he treads on the necks of conquerors which had long been inflexible against him.
How the kindly-disposed and the envious are to be admonished.
(Admonition 11.) Differently to be admonished are the kindly-disposed and the envious. For the kindly-disposed are to be admonished so to rejoice in what is good in others as to desire to have the like as their own; so to praise with affection the deeds of their neighbours as also to multiply them by imitation, lest in this stadium of the present life they assist at the contest of others as eager backers, but inert spectators, and remain without a prize after the contest, in that they toiled not in the contest, and should then regard with sorrow the palms of those in the midst of whose toils they stood idle. For indeed we sin greatly if we love not the good deeds of others: but we win no reward if we imitate not so far as we can the things which we love. Wherefore the kindly-disposed should be told that if they make no haste to imitate the good which they applaud, the holiness of virtue pleases them in like manner as the vanity of scenic exhibitions of skill pleases foolish spectators: for these extol with applauses the performances of charioteers and players, and yet do not long to be such as they see those whom they praise to be. They admire them for having done pleasing things, and yet they shun pleasing in like manner. The kindly-disposed are to be told that when they behold the deeds of their neighbours they should return to their own heart, and presume not on actions which are not their own, nor praise what is good while they refuse to do it. More heavily, indeed, must those be smitten by final vengeance who have been pleased by that which they would not imitate.
The envious are to be admonished how great is
their blindness who fail by other men’s advancement, and pine
away at other men’s rejoicing; how great is their unhappiness who
are made worse by the bettering of their neighbour, and in beholding
the increase of another’s prosperity are uneasily vexed within
themselves, and die of the plague of their own heart. What can be
more unhappy than these, who, when touched by the sight of happiness,
are made more wicked by the pain of seeing it? But, moreover, the
good things of others which they cannot have they might, if they loved
them, make their own. For indeed all are constituted together in
faith as are many members in one body; which are indeed diverse as to
their office, but in mutually agreeing with each other are made
one. Whence it comes to pass that the foot sees by the eye, and
the eyes walk by the feet; that the hearing of the ears serves the
mouth, and the tongue of the mouth concurs with the ears for their
benefit; that the belly supports the hands, and the hands work for the
belly. In the very arrangement of the body, therefore, we learn
what we should observe in our conduct. It is, then, too shameful
not to act up to what we are. Those things, in fact, are ours
which we love in others, even though we cannot follow them; and what
things are loved in us become theirs that love them. Hence, then,
let the envious consider of how great power is charity, which makes
ours without labour works of labour not our own. The envious are
therefore to be told that, when they fail to keep themselves from
spite, they are being sunk into the old wickedness of the wily
foe. For of him it is written, But by envy of the devil death
entered into the world (
Chapter XI.
How the simple and the crafty are to be admonished.
(Admonition 12.) Differently to be
admonished are the simple and the insincere. The simple are to be
praised for studying never to say what is false, but to be admonished
to know how sometimes to be silent about what is true. For, as
falsehood has always harmed him that speaks it, so sometimes the
hearing of truth has done harm to some. Wherefore the
Lord before His disciples, tempering His
speech with silence, says, I have many things to say unto you, but
ye cannot bear them now (
But, on the other hand, the insincere are to be
admonished to learn how heavy is the labour of duplicity, which with
guilt they endure. For, while they are afraid of being found out,
they are ever seeking dishonest defences, they are agitated by fearful
suspicions. But there is nothing safer for defence than
sincerity, nothing easier to say than truth. For, when obliged to
defend its deceit, the heart is wearied with hard labour. For
hence it is written, The labour of their own lips shall cover
them (
Let the insincere hear what is written, He that
walketh in simplicity walketh surely (
Chapter XII.
How the whole and the sick are to be admonished.
(Admonition 13.) Differently to be
admonished are the whole and the sick. For the whole are to be
admonished that they employ the health of the body to the health of the
soul: lest, if they turn the grace of granted soundness to the
use of iniquity, they be made worse by the gift, and afterwards merit
the severer punishments, in that they fear not now to use amiss the
more bountiful gifts of God. The whole
are to be admonished that they despise not the opportunity of winning
health for ever. For it is written, Behold now is the
acceptable time, behold now is the day of salvation
(
But, on the other hand, the sick are to be
admonished that they feel themselves to be sons of God in that the scourge of discipline chastises
them. For, unless He purposed to give them an inheritance after
correction, He would not have a care to educate them by
afflictions. For hence the Lord says to
John by the angel, Whom I love I rebuke and chasten
(
The sick are to be admonished to consider how
great health of the heart is in bodily affliction, which recalls the
mind to knowledge of itself, and renews the memory of infirmity which
health for the most part casts away, so that the spirit, which is
carried out of itself into elation, may be reminded by the smitten
flesh from which it suffers to what condition it is subject.
Which thing is rightly signified to Balaam (had he but been willing to
follow obediently the voice of God) in the
very retardation of his journey (
The sick are to be admonished, to the end that they may keep the virtue of patience, to consider incessantly how great evils our Redeemer endured from those whom He had created; that He bore so many vile insults of reproach; that, while daily snatching the souls of captives from the hand of the old enemy, He took blows on the face from insulting men; that, while washing us with the water of salvation, He hid not His face from the spittings of the faithless; that, while delivering us by His advocacy from eternal punishments, He bore scourges in silence; that, while giving to us everlasting honours among the choirs of angels, He endured buffets; that, while saving us from the prickings of our sins, He refused not to submit His head to thorns; that, while inebriating us with eternal sweetness, He accepted in His thirst the bitterness of gall; that He Who for us adored the Father though equal to Him in Godhead, when adored in mockery held His peace: that, while preparing life for the dead, He Who was Himself the life came even unto death. Why, then, is it thought hard that man should endure scourges from God for evil-doing, if God underwent so great evils for well-doing? Or who with sound understanding can be ungrateful for being himself smitten, when even He Who lived here without sin went not hence without a scourge?
Chapter XIII.
How those who fear scourges and those who contemn them are to be admonished.
(Admonition 14.) Differently to be
admonished are those who fear scourges, and on that account live
innocently, and those who have grown so hard in wickedness as not to be
corrected even by scourges. For those who fear scourges are to be
told by no means to desire temporal goods as being of great account,
seeing that bad men also have them, and by no means to shun present
evils as intolerable, seeing they are not ignorant how for the most
part good men also are touched by them. They are to be admonished
that, if they desire to be truly free from evils, they should dread
eternal punishments; nor yet continue in this fear of punishments, but
grow up by the nursing of charity to the grace of love. For it is
written, Perfect charity casteth out fear (
But, on the other hand, those whom not even
scourges restrain from iniquities are to be smitten with sharper rebuke
in proportion as they have grown hard with greater insensibility.
For generally they are to be disdained without disdain, and despaired
of without despair, so, to wit, that the despair exhibited may strike
them with dread, and admonition following may bring them back to
hope. Sternly, therefore, against them should the Divine
judgments be set forth, that they may be recalled by consideration of
eternal retribution to knowledge of themselves. For let them hear
that in them is fulfilled that which is written, If thou shouldest
bray a fool in a mortar, as if with a pestle pounding barley, his
foolishness will not be taken away from him (
It is, however, to be known that sometimes when they remain uncorrected amid the hardness of scourges, they are to be soothed by sweet admonition. For those who are not corrected by torments are sometimes restrained from unrighteous deeds by gentle blandishments. For commonly the sick too, whom a strong potion of medicine has not availed to cure, have been restored to their former health by tepid water; and some sores which cannot be cured by incision are healed by fomentations of oil; and hard adamant admits not at all of incision by steel, but is softened by the mild blood of goats.
Chapter XIV.
How the silent and the talkative are to be admonished.
(Admonition 15.) Differently to be
admonished are the over-silent, and those who spend time in much
speaking. For it ought to be insinuated to the over-silent that
while they shun some vices unadvisedly, they are, without its being
perceived, implicated in worse. For often from bridling the
tongue overmuch they suffer from more grievous loquacity in the heart;
so that thoughts seethe the more in the mind from being straitened by
the violent guard of indiscreet silence. And for the most part
they overflow all the more widely as they count themselves the more
secure because of not being seen by fault-finders without. Whence
sometimes a man’s mind is exalted into pride, and he despises as
weak those whom he hears speaking. And, when he shuts the mouth
of his body, he is not aware to what extent through his pride he lays
himself open to vices. For his tongue he represses, his mind he
exalts; and, little considering his own wickedness, accuses all in his
own mind by so much the more freely as he does it also the more
secretly. The over-silent are therefore to be admonished that
they study anxiously to know, not only what manner of men they ought to
exhibit themselves outwardly, but also what manner of men they ought to
shew themselves inwardly; that they fear more a hidden judgment in
respect of their thoughts than the reproof of their neighbours in
respect of their speeches. For it is written, My son, attend
unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my prudence, that thou mayest
guard thy thoughts ( In
English Bible, xl. 12. In
English Bible, cxli. 3.
But, on the other hand, those who spend time in
much speaking are to be admonished that they vigilantly note from what
a state of rectitude they fall away when they flow abroad in a
multitude of words. For the human mind, after the manner of
water, when closed in, is collected unto higher levels, in that it
seeks again the height from which it descended; and, when let loose, it
falls away in that it disperses itself unprofitably through the lowest
places. For by as many superfluous words as it is dissipated from
the censorship of its silence, by so many streams, as it were, is it
drawn away out of itself. Whence also it is unable to return
inwardly to knowledge of itself, because, being scattered by much
speaking, it excludes itself from the secret place of inmost
consideration. But it uncovers its whole self to the wounds of
the enemy who lies in want, because it surrounds itself with no defence
of watchfulness. Hence it is written, As a city that lieth
open and without environment of walls, so is a man that cannot keep in
his spirit in speaking (
Moreover, since the indolent mind for the most
part lapses by degrees into downfall, while we neglect to guard against
idle words we go on to hurtful ones; so that at first it pleases us to
talk of other men’s affairs; afterwards the tongue gnaws with
detraction the lives of those of whom we talk; but at last breaks out
even into open slanders. Hence are sown pricking thorns, quarrels
arise, the torches of enmities are kindled, the peace of hearts is
extinguished. Whence it is well said through Solomon, He that
letteth out water is a well-spring of strifes ( In
English Bible, cxli. 11.
Chapter XV.
How the slothful and the hasty are to be admonished.
(Admonition 16.) Differently to be
admonished are the slothful and the hasty. For the
But on the other hand the hasty, while they
forestall the time of good deeds, pervert their merit, and often fall
into what is evil, while failing altogether to discern what is
good. Such persons look not at all to see what things they are
doing when they do them, but for the most part, when they are done,
become aware that they ought not to have done them. To such,
under the guise of a learner, it is well said in Solomon, My son, do
nothing without counsel, and after it is done thou shalt not repent
(
Chapter XVI.
How the meek and the passionate are to be admonished.
(Admonition 17.) Differently to be
admonished are the meek and the passionate. For sometimes the
meek, when they are in authority, suffer from the torpor of sloth,
which is a kindred disposition, and as it were placed hard by.
And for the most part from the laxity of too great gentleness they
soften the force of strictness beyond need. But on the other hand
the passionate, in that they are swept on into frenzy of mind by the
impulse of anger, break up the calm of quietness, and so throw into
confusion the life of those that are put under them. For, when
rage drives them headlong, they know not what
He then is in no wise full of the Holy Spirit, who
either in the calm of meekness forsakes the fervour of zeal, or again
in the ardour of zeal loses the virtue of meekness. Which thing
we shall perhaps better shew, if we bring forward the authority of
Paul, who to two who were his disciples, and endowed with a like
charity, supplies nevertheless different aids for preaching. For
in admonishing Timothy he says, Reprove, entreat, rebuke, with all
long-suffering and doctrine (
But when the passionate so attack others that they
cannot be altogether shunned, they should be smitten, not with open
rebuke, but sparingly with a certain respectful cautiousness. And
this we shall shew better if we bring forward what was done by
Abner. For, when Asahel attacked him with the violence of
inconsiderate haste, it is written, Abner spake unto Asahel, saying.
Turn thee aside from following me, lest I be driven to smite thee to
the ground. Howbeit he scorned to listen, and refused to turn
aside. Whereupon Abner smote him with the hinder end of the spear
in the groin, and thrust him through, and he died
(
Chapter XVII.
How the humble and the haughty are to be admonished.
(Admonition 18.) Differently to be
admonished are the humble and the haughty. To the former it is to
be insinuated how true is that excellence which they hold in hoping for
it; to the latter it is to be intimated how that temporal glory is as
nothing which even when embracing it they hold not. Let the
humble hear how eternal are the things that they long for, how
transitory the things which they despise; let the haughty hear how
transitory are the things they court, how eternal the things they
lose. Let the humble hear from the authoritative voice of the
Truth, Every one that humbleth himself shall be exalted
( In English
Bible, cxxxviii. 6.
Let the humble, then, be told that, when they abase themselves, they ascend to the likeness of God; let the haughty be told that, when they exalt themselves, they fall into imitation of the apostate angel. What, then, is more debased than haughtiness, which, while it stretches itself above itself, is lengthened out beyond the stature of true loftiness? And what is more sublime than humility, which, while it depresses itself to the lowest, conjoins itself to its Maker who remains above the highest? There is, however, another thing in these cases that ought to be carefully considered; that some are often deceived by a false show of humility, while some are beguiled by ignorance of their own haughtiness. For commonly some who think themselves humble have an admixture of fear, such as is not due to men; while an assertion of free speech commonly goes with the haughty. And when any vices require to be rebuked, the former hold their peace out of fear, and yet esteem themselves as being silent out of humility; the latter speak in the impatience of haughtiness, and yet believe themselves to be speaking in the freedom of uprightness. Those the fault of timidity under a show of humility keeps back from rebuking what is wrong; these the unbridled impetuosity of pride, under the image of freedom, impels to rebuke things they ought not, or to rebuke them more than they ought. Whence both the haughty are to be admonished not to be free more than is becoming, and the humble are to be admonished not to be more submissive than is right; lest either the former turn the defence of righteousness into a display of pride, or the latter, while they study more than needs to submit themselves to men, be driven even to pay respect to their vices.
It is, however, to be considered that for the most part
we more profitably reprove the haughty, if with our reproofs of them we
mingle some balms of praise. For some other good things that are
in them should be introduced into our reproofs, or at all events some
that might have been, though they are not; and then at last the bad
things that displease us
Moreover, we shall in most cases better persuade
the haughty to their profit, if we speak of their improvement as likely
to profit us rather than them; if we request their amendment to be
bestowed upon us more than on themselves. For haughtiness is
easily bent to good, if its bending be believed to be of profit to
others also. Whence Moses, who journeyed through the desert under
the direction of God and the leading of the
cloudy pillar, when he would draw Hobab his kinsman from converse with
the Gentile world, and subdue him to the dominion of Almighty
God, said, We are journeying unto the place
of which the Lord said, I will give it to you;
Come with us, and we will do thee good; for the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel. And when
the other had replied to him, I will not go with thee, but will return
to my own land in which I was born; he straightway added, Leave us not,
I pray thee; for thou knowest in what places we should encamp in the
wilderness, and thou shalt be our guide (
Chapter XVIII.
How the obstinate and the fickle are to be admonished.
(Admonition 19.) Differently to be
admonished are the obstinate and the fickle. The former are to be
told that they think more of themselves than they are, and therefore do
not acquiesce in the counsels of others: but the latter are to be
given to understand that they undervalue and disregard themselves too
much, and so are turned aside from their own judgment in successive
moments of time. Those are to be told that, unless they esteemed
themselves better than the rest of men, they would by no means set less
value on the counsels of all than on their own deliberation:
these are to be told that, if they at all gave heed to what they are,
the breeze of mutability would by no means turn them about through so
many sides of variableness. To the former it is said through
Paul, Be not wise in your own conceits (
The obstinate are therefore to be admonished, that
they acknowledge the haughtiness of their thoughts, and study to
vanquish themselves; lest, while they scorn to be overcome by the right
advice of others outside themselves, they be held captive within
themselves to pride. They are to be admonished to observe wisely
how the Son of Man, Whose will is always one with the Father’s,
that He may afford us an example of subduing our own will, says, I
seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent
me (
But, on the other hand, the fickle are to be
admonished to strengthen their mind with gravity. For they then
dry up the germs of mutability in themselves when they first cut off
from their heart the root of levity; since also a strong fabric is
built up when a solid place is first provided whereon to lay the
foundation. Unless, then, levity of mind be previously guarded
against, inconstancy of the thoughts is by no means conquered.
From this Paul declared himself to be free, when he said, Did I use
levity? or the things that I purpose do I purpose according to the
flesh, that with me there should be yea and nay
(
Chapter XIX.
How those who use food intemperately and those who use it sparingly are to be admonished.
(Admonition 20.) Differently to be
admonished are the gluttonous and the abstinent. For superfluity
of speech, levity of conduct, and lechery accompany the former; but the
latter often the sin of impatience, and often that of pride. For
were it not the case that immoderate loquacity carries away the
gluttonous, that rich man who is said to have fared sumptuously every
day would not burn more sorely than elsewhere in his tongue, saying,
Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip
the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented
in this flame ( The designation
(Rab-tabbachim) of Nabuzaradan, who acted for Nebuchadnezzar after the
capture of Jerusalem, is rendered in the LXX. ἀρχιμάγειρος,
i.e. Chief Cook.
On the other hand, were it not that impatience
commonly shakes the abstinent out of the bosom of tranquillity, Peter
would by no means, when saying, Supply in your faith virtue, and in
your virtue knowledge, and in your knowledge abstinence
(
Thus the gluttonous are to be admonished, that in giving
themselves to the enjoyment of dainties they pierce not themselves
through with the sword of lechery; and that they perceive how great
loquacity, how great levity of mind, lie in wait for them through
eating; lest, while they softly serve the belly, they become cruelly
bound in the nooses of vice.
In this matter it is to be considered how small
the virtue of abstinence is accounted, seeing that it is not commended
but for other virtues. Hence Joel says, Sanctify a
fast. For indeed to sanctify a fast is to shew abstinence of
the flesh to be worthy of God by other good
things being added to it. The abstinent are to be admonished that
they then offer to God an abstinence that
pleases Him, when they bestow on the indigent the nourishment which
they withhold from themselves. For we should wisely attend to
what is blamed by the Lord through the
prophet, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh
month far these seventy years, did ye at all fast a fast unto Me?
And when ye did eat and drink, did ye not eat for yourselves, and drink
for yourselves (
Wherefore, lest either gluttonous appetite throw
the one sort off their guard, or the afflicted flesh trip up the other
by elation, let the former hear this from the mouth of the Truth,
And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be
overcharged in surfeiting and drunkenness and cares of this world
(
Chapter XX.
How to be admonished are those who give away what is their own, and those who seize what belongs to others.
(Admonition 21.) Differently to be
admonished are those who already give compassionately of their own, and
those who still would fain seize even what belongs to others. For
those who already give compassionately of their own are to be
admonished not to lift themselves up in swelling thought above those to
whom they impart earthly things; not to esteem themselves better than
others because they see others to be supported by them. For the
Lord of an earthly household, in distributing
the ranks and ministries of his servants, appoints some to rule, but
some to be ruled by others. Those he orders to supply to the rest
what is necessary, these to take what they receive from others.
And yet it is for the most part those that rule who offend,
For he gives his bread and wine to sinners who gives assistance to the wicked for that they are wicked. For which cause also some of the rich of this world nourish players with profuse bounties, while the poor of Christ are tormented with hunger. He, however, who gives his bread to one that is indigent, though he be a sinner, not because he is a sinner, but because he is a man, does not in truth nourish a sinner, but a poor righteous man, because what he loves in him is not his sin, but his nature.
Those who already distribute compassionately
But, on the other hand, those who still would fain
seize what belongs to others are to be admonished to give anxious heed
to what the Lord says when He comes to
judgment. For He says, I was an hungered, and ye gave Me no
meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave Me no drink: I was a
stranger, and ye took Me not in: naked, and ye clothed Me not;
sick, and in prison, and ye visited Me not (
When they are intent on seizing what is not their
own, let them hear what is written, Woe to him that increaseth that
which is not his! How long doth he heap up against himself thick
clay (
How those are to be admonished who desire not the things of others, but keep their own; and those who give of their own, yet seize on those of others.
(Admonition 22.) Differently to be
admonished are those who neither desire what belongs to others nor
bestow what is their own, and those who give of what they have, and yet
desist not from seizing on what belongs to others. Those who
neither desire what belongs to others nor bestow what is their own are
to be admonished to consider carefully that the earth out of which they
are taken is common to all men, and therefore brings forth nourishment
for all in common. Vainly, then, do those suppose themselves
innocent, who claim to their own private use the common gift of
God; those who, in not imparting what they
have received, walk in the midst of the slaughter of their neighbours;
since they almost daily slay so many persons as there are dying poor
whose subsidies they keep close in their own possession. For,
when we administer necessaries of any kind to the indigent, we do not
bestow our own, but render them what is theirs; we rather pay a debt of
justice than accomplish works of mercy. Whence also the Truth
himself, when speaking of the caution required in shewing mercy, says,
Take heed that ye do not your justice before men (
For, having first mentioned bounty bestowed upon
the poor, he would not call this mercy, but rather justice: for
it is surely just that whosoever receive what is given by a common
Lord should use it in common. Hence also
Solomon says, Whoso is just will give and will not spare
(
For a fig-tree without fruit cumbers the ground, when the soul of the niggardly keeps unprofitably what might have benefited many. A fig-tree without fruit cumbers the ground, when the fool keeps barren under the shade of sloth a place which another might have cultivated under the sun of good works.
But these are wont sometimes to say, We use what has been granted us; we do not seek what belongs to others; and, if we do nothing worthy of the reward of mercy, we still commit no wrong. So they think, because in truth they close the ear of their heart to the words which are from heaven. For the rich man in the Gospel who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and feasted sumptuously every day, is not said to have seized what belonged to others, but to have used what was his own unfruitfully; and avenging hell received him after this life, not because he did anything unlawful but because by immoderate indulgence he gave up his whole self to what was lawful.
The niggardly are to be admonished to take notice
that they do God, in the first place, this
wrong; that to Him Who gives them all they render in return no
sacrifice of mercy. For hence the Psalmist says. He will not
give his propitiation to God, nor the price of
the redemption of his soul ( In
English Bible, xlix. 9.
But, on the other hand, those who both give what they
have and desist not from seizing on what belongs to others are to be
admonished not to desire to appear exceeding munificent, and so be made
worse from the outward show of good. For these, giving what is
their own without discretion, not only, as we have said above, fall
into the murmuring of impatience, but, when want urges them, are swept
along even to avarice. What, then, is more wretched than the mind
of those in whom avarice is born of bountifulness, and a crop of sins
is sown as it were from virtue? First, then, they are to be
admonished to learn how to keep what is theirs reasonably, and then in
the end not to go about getting what is another’s. For, if
the root of the fault is not burnt out in the profusion itself, the
thorn of avarice, exuberant through the branches, is never dried
up. So then, cause for seizing is withdrawn, if the right of
possession be first adjusted well. But then, further, let those
who are admonished be told how to give mercifully what they have, when
they have learnt not to confound the good of mercy by throwing into it
the wickedness of robbery. For they violently exact what
But the Lord shews with
what strong censure he disowns them, saying through a certain wise man,
Whoso offereth a sacrifice of the substance of the poor doeth as one
that killeth the son before the father’s eyes
(
Chapter XXII.
How those that are at variance and those that are at peace are to be admonished.
(Admonition 23.) Differently to be
admonished are those that are at variance and those that are at
peace. For those that are at variance are to be admonished to
know most certainly that, in whatever virtues they may abound, they can
by no means become spiritual if they neglect becoming united to their
neighbours by concord. For it is written, But the fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace ( In
English Bible, Ibid.,
Chapter XXIII.
How sowers of strifes and peacemakers are to be admonished.
(Admonition 24.) Differently to be
admonished are sowers of strifes and peacemakers. For sowers of
strifes are to be admonished to perceive whose followers they
are. For of the apostate angel it is written, when tares had been
sown among the good crop, An enemy hath done this
(
But, on the other hand, the peacemakers are to be
admonished that they detract not from the efficacy of so great an
undertaking through not knowing between whom they ought to establish
peace. For, as there is much harm if unity be wanting to the
good, so there is exceeding harm if it be not wanting to the bad.
If, then, the iniquity of the perverse is united in peace, assuredly
there is an accession of strength to their evil doings, since the more
they agree among themselves in wickedness, by so much the more stoutly
do they dash themselves against the good to afflict them. For
hence it is that against the preachers of that vessel of damnation, to
wit, Antichrist, is it said by the divine voice to the blessed Job,
The members of his flesh stick close to each other
( So Vulgate.
Gregory always takes Leviathan to signify the devil. So Vulgate.
Gregory always takes Leviathan to signify the devil.
Chapter XXIV.
How the rude in sacred learning, and those who are learned but not humble, are to be admonished.
(Admonition 25.) Differently to be
admonished are those who do not understand aright the words of the
sacred Law, and those who understand them indeed aright, but speak them
not humbly. For those who understand not aright the words of
sacred Law are to be admonished to consider that they turn for
themselves a most wholesome drought of wine into a cup of poison, and
with a medicinal knife inflict on themselves a mortal wound, when they
destroy in themselves what was sound by that whereby they ought, to
their health, to have cut away what was diseased. They are to be
admonished to consider that Holy Scripture is set as a kind of lantern
for us in the night of the present life, the words whereof when they
understand not aright, from light they get darkness. But in truth
a perverse bent of mind would not hurry them to understand it wrong,
did not pride first puff them up. For, while they think
themselves wise beyond all others, they scorn to follow others to
things better understood: and, in order to extort for themselves
from the unskilful multitude a name for knowledge, they strive mightily
both to upset the right views of others and to confirm their own
perverse views. Hence it is well said by the prophet, They
have ripped up the women with child of Gilead, that they might enlarge
their border (
But, on the other hand, those who understand
indeed aright the words of the Law, but speak them not humbly, are to
be admonished that, in divine discourses, before they put them forth to
others, they should examine themselves; lest, in following up the deeds
of others, they leave themselves behind; and lest, while thinking
rightly of all the rest of Holy Scripture, this only thing they attend
not to, what is said in it against the proud. For he is indeed a
poor and unskilful physician, who would fain heal another’s
disease while ignorant of that from which he himself is
suffering. Those, then, who speak not the words of God humbly should certainly be admonished, that, when they
apply medicines to the sick, they see to the poison of their own
infection, lest in healing others they die themselves. They ought
to be admonished to take heed, lest their manner of saying things be at
variance with the excellence of what is said, and lest they preach one
thing in their speaking and another in their outward bearing. Let
them hear, therefore, what is written, If any man speak let him
speak as the oracles of God
( In
English Bible, liv. 3.
Chapter XXV.
How those are to be admonished who decline the office of preaching out of too great humility, and those who seize on it with precipitate haste.
(Admonition 26.) Differently to be
admonished are those who, though able to
Let these, therefore, when they keep to themselves the
word of preaching, hear with terror the divine sentences against them,
to the end that fear may expel fear from their hearts. Let them
hear how he that would not lay out his talent lost it, with a sentence
of condemnation added ( In
English Bible,
But, on the other hand, those whom imperfection or
age debars from the office of preaching, and yet precipitancy impells
to it, are to be admonished lest, while rashly arrogating to themselves
the burden of so great an office, they cut off from themselves the way
of subsequent improvement; and, while seizing out of season what they
are not equal to, they lose even what they might at some time in due
season have fulfilled; and be shewn to have justly forfeited their
knowledge because of their attempt to display it improperly. They
are to be admonished to consider that young birds, if they try to fly
before their wings are fully formed, are plunged low down from the
place whence they fain would have risen on high. They are to be
admonished to consider that, if on new buildings not yet compacted a
weight of timbers be laid, there is built not a habitation, but a
ruin. They are to be admonished to consider that, if women bring
forth their conceived offspring before it is fully formed, they by no
means fill houses, but tombs. For hence it is that the Truth
Himself, Who could all at once have strengthened whom He would, in
order to give an example to His followers that they should not presume
to preach while imperfect, after He had fully instructed His disciples
concerning the power of preaching, forthwith added, But tarry ye in
the city until ye be endued with power from on high
( The word
adolescentia, used in the Vulgate, implies properly the age of
immaturity, while growth is still going on. “Adolescentia, prima hominis ætas post pueritiam, et
ante juventutem.” Facciolati. St.
Gregory’s intention is to preclude the idea of Timothy having
been called to “command and teach” at so immature an age as
the word might seem to imply.
Chapter XXVI.
How those are to be admonished with whom everything succeeds according to their wish, and those with whom nothing does.
(Admonition 27.) Differently to be
admonished are those who prosper in what they desire in temporal
matters, and those who covet indeed the things that are of this
world,
In
English Bible, cviii. 6.
Those who prosper in this world are to be
admonished to consider wisely how that prosperity in the present life
is sometimes given to provoke people to a better life, but sometimes to
condemn them more fully for ever. For hence it is that to the
people of Israel the land of Canaan is promised, that they may be
provoked at some time or other to hope for eternal things. For
that rude nation would not have believed the promises of God afar off, had they not received also something nigh at
hand from Him that promised. In order, therefore, that they may
be the more surely strengthened unto faith in eternal things, they are
drawn on, not only by hope to realities, but also by realities to
hope. Which thing the Psalmist clearly testifies, saying, He
gave them the lands of the heathen, and they took the labours of the
peoples in possession, that they might keep his statutes and seek after
his law ( Ibid. cv. 44. Ibid. lxxiii.
18.
But, on the other hand, those who covet indeed the
things that are of the world, but yet are wearied by the labour of
adversity, are to be admonished to consider anxiously with how great
favour the Creator and Disposer of all things watches over those whom
He gives not up to their own desires. For a sick man whom the
physician despairs of he allows to take whatever he longs for:
but one of whom it is thought that he can be cured is prohibited from
many things that he desires; and we withdraw money from boys, for whom
at the same time, as our heirs, we reserve our whole patrimony.
Let, then, those whom temporal adversity humiliates take joy from hope
of an eternal inheritance, since Divine Providence would not curb them
in order to educate them under the rule of discipline, unless it
designed them to be saved for ever. Those, therefore, who in
respect of the temporal things which they covet, are wearied with the
labour of adversity are to be admonished to consider carefully how for
the most part even the righteous, when temporal power exalts them, are
caught by sin as in a snare. For, as in the former part of this
volume we have already said, David, beloved of God, was more upright when in servitude than when he came
to the kingdom (
Chapter XXVII.
How the married and the single are to be admonished.
(Admonition 28.) Differently to be
admonished are those who are bound in wedlock and those who are free
from the ties of wedlock. For those who are bound in wedlock are
to be admonished that, while they take thought for each other’s
good, they study, both of them, so to please their consorts as not to
displease their Maker; that they so conduct the things that are of this
world as still not to omit desiring the things that are of God; that they so rejoice in present good as still, with
earnest solicitude, to fear eternal evil; that they so sorrow for
temporal evils as still to fix their hope with entire comfort on
everlasting good; to the end that, while they know what they are
engaged in to be transitory, but what they desire to be permanent,
neither the evils of the world may break their heart while it is
strengthened by the hope of heavenly good, nor the good things of the
present life deceive them, while they are saddened by the apprehended
evils of the judgment to come. Wherefore the mind of married
Christians is both weak and stedfast, in that it cannot fully despise
all temporal things, and yet can join itself in desire to eternal
things. Although it lies low meanwhile in the delights of the
flesh, let it grow strong in the refreshment of supernal hope:
and, if it has the things that are of the world for the service of its
journey, let it hope for the things that are of God for the fruit of its journey’s end: nor
let it devote itself entirely to what it is engaged in now, lest it
fall utterly from what it ought stedfastly to hope for. Which
thing Paul well expresses briefly, saying, They that have wives as
though they had none, and they that weep as though they wept not, and
they that rejoice as though they rejoiced not (
Husbands and wives are to be admonished to
remember that they are joined together for the sake of producing
offspring; and, when, giving themselves to immoderate intercourse, they
transfer the occasion of procreation to the service of pleasure, to
consider that, though they go not outside wedlock yet in wedlock itself
they exceed the just dues of wedlock. Whence it is needful that
by frequent supplications they do away their having fouled with the
admixture of pleasure the fair form of conjugal union. For hence
it is that the Apostle, skilled in heavenly medicine, did not so much
lay down a course of life for the whole as point out remedies to the
weak when he said, It is good for a man not to touch a woman:
but on account of fornication let every man have his own wife, and let
every woman have her own husband (
But, on the other hand, those who are not bound by
wedlock are to be admonished that they observe heavenly precepts all
the more closely in that no yoke of carnal union bows them down to
worldly cares; that, as they are free from the lawful burden of
wedlock, the unlawful weight of earthly anxiety by no means press them
down; that the last day find them all the more prepared, as it finds
them less encumbered; lest from being free and able, and yet
neglecting, to do better things, they therefore be found deserving of
worse punishment. Let them hear how the
Chapter XXVIII.
How those are to be admonished who have had experience of the sins of the flesh, and those who have not.
(Admonition 29.) Differently to be
admonished are those who are conscious of sins of the flesh, and those
who know them not. For those who have had experience of the sins
of the flesh are to be admonished that, at any rate after shipwreck,
they should fear the sea, and feel horror at their risk of perdition at
least when it has become known to them; lest, having been mercifully
preserved after evil deeds committed, by wickedly repeating the same
they die. Whence to the soul that sins and never ceases from sin
it is said, There is come unto thee a whore’s forehead; thou
refuseth to be ashamed (
Those who have had experience of the sins of the
flesh are to be admonished to observe vigilantly with how great
benevolence God opens the bosom of His pity to
us, if after transgressions we return to Him, when He says through the
prophet, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him and become
another man’s, shall he return to her again? Shall not that
woman be polluted and contaminated? But thou hast played the
harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the Lord (
But, on the other hand, those that are
unacquainted with the sins of the flesh are to be admonished to fear
headlong ruin the more anxiously, as they stand upon a higher
eminence. They are to be admonished to be aware that the more
prominent be the place they stand on, so much the more frequent are the
arrows of the lier-in-wait by which they are assailed. For he is
wont to rouse himself the more ardently, the more stoutly he sees
himself to be vanquished: and so much the more he scorns and
feels it intolerable to be vanquished, as he perceives the unbroken
camp of weak flesh to be set in array against him. They are to be
admonished to look up incessantly to the rewards, and then undoubtedly
they will gladly tread under foot the labours of temptation which they
endure. For, if attention be fixed on the attained felicity apart
from the passage to it, the toil of the passage becomes light.
Let them hear what is said through the Prophet; Thus saith the
Lord unto the eunuchs, Whoso shall have kept
my sabbaths, and chosen the things that l would, and kept my covenant,
I will give unto them in mine house and within my walls a place and a
name better than of sons and of daughters (
Those who are unacquainted with the sins of the flesh are therefore to be admonished both to know that virginity surpasses wedlock, and yet not to exalt themselves above the wedded: to the end that, while they put virginity first, and themselves last, they may both keep to that which they esteem as best, and also keep guard over themselves in not vainly exalting themselves.
They are to be admonished to consider that
commonly the life of the continent is put to shame by the action of
secular persons, when the latter take on themselves works beyond their
condition, and the former do not stir up their hearts to the mark of
their own order. Whence it is well said through the Prophet,
Be thou ashamed, O Sidon, saith the sea (
Chapter XXIX.
How they are to be admonished who lament sins of deed, and those who lament only sins of thought.
(Admonition 30.) Differently to be
admonished are those who deplore sins of deed, and those who deplore
sins of thought. For those who deplore sins of deed are to be
admonished that perfected lamentations should wash out consummated
evils, lest they be bound by a greater debt of perpetrated deed than
they pay in tears of satisfaction for it. For it is written,
He hath given us drink in tears by measure (
Hence David, when he prayed, saying, Turn away
thine eyes from my sins ( In
English Bible, li. 3.
They are to be admonished to build upon the mercy
which they crave, lest they perish through the force of immoderate
affliction. For the Lord would not set
sins to be deplored before the eyes of offenders, were it His will to
smite them with strict severity Himself. For it is evident that
it has been His will to hide from His own judgment those whom in
anticipation He has made judges of themselves. For hence it is
written, Let us come beforehand before the face of the Lord in confession ( Ibid. xcv. 2.
But, on the other hand, those who bewail sins of thought are to be admonished to consider anxiously within the recesses of their soul whether they have sinned in delight only, or also in consent. For commonly the heart is tempted, and in the sinfulness of the flesh experiences delight, and yet in its judgment resists this same sinfulness; so that in the secrets of thought it is both saddened by what pleases it and pleased by what saddens it. But sometimes the soul is so whelmed in a gulph of temptation as not to resist at all, but follows of set purpose that whereby it is assailed through delight; and, if outward opportunity be at hand, it soon consummates in effect its inward wishes. And certainly, if this is regarded according to the just animadversion of a strict judge, the sin is one, not of thought, but of deed; since, though the tardiness of circumstances has deferred the sin outwardly, the will has accomplished it inwardly by the act of consent.
Moreover, we have learnt in the case of our first
parent that we perpetrate the iniquity of every sin in three ways; that
is to say, in suggestion, delight, and consent. Thus the first is
perpetrated through the enemy, the second through the flesh, the third
through the spirit. For the lier-in-wait suggests wrong things;
the flesh submits itself to delight; and at last the spirit, vanquished
by delight, consents. Whence also that serpent suggested wrong
things; then Eve, as though she had been the flesh, submitted herself
to delight; but Adam, as the spirit, overcome by the suggestion and the
delight, assented. Thus by suggestion we have knowledge of sin,
by delight we are vanquished, by consent we are also bound.
Those, therefore, who bewail iniquities of thought are to be admonished
to consider anxiously in what measure they have fallen into sin, to the
end that they may be lifted up by a measure of lamentation
corresponding to the degree of the downfall of which they are inwardly
conscious; lest, if meditated evils torment them too little, they lead
them on even to the perpetration of deeds. But in all this they
should be alarmed in such wise that they still be by no means broken
down. For often merciful God absolves
sins of the heart the more speedily in that He allows them not to issue
in deeds; and meditated iniquity is the more speedily loosed from not
being too tightly bound by effected deed. Whence it is rightly
said by the Psalmist, I said I will declare against myself my
iniquities to the Lord, and thou forgavest the
impiety of my heart (
Chapter XXX.
How those are to be admonished who abstain not from the sins which they bewail, and those who, abstaining from them, bewail them not.
(Admonition 31.) Differently to be
admonished are those who lament their transgressions, and yet forsake
them not, and those who forsake them, and yet lament them not.
For those who lament their transgressions and yet forsake them not are
to be admonished to learn to consider anxiously that they cleanse
themselves in vain by their weeping, if they wickedly defile themselves
in their living,
In Engl.
Bib., xxxiv. 25.
Those who bewail transgressions, yet forsake them
not, are to be admonished to acknowledge themselves to be before the
eyes of the strict judge like those who, when they come before the face
of certain men, fawn upon them with great submission, but, when they
depart, atrociously bring upon them all the enmity and hurt they
can. For what is weeping for sin but exhibiting the humility of
one’s devotion to God? And what is
doing wickedly after weeping but putting in practice arrogant enmity
against Him to whom entreaty has been made? This James attests,
who says, Whosoever will be a friend of this world becomes the enemy
of God (
But, on the other hand, those who forsake their
transgressions, and yet mourn them not, are to be admonished not to
suppose the sins to be already remitted which, though they multiply
them not by action, they still cleanse away by no bewailings. For
neither has a writer, when he has ceased from writing, obliterated what
he had written by reason of his having added no more: neither has
one who offers insults made satisfaction by merely holding his peace,
it being certainly necessary for him to impugn his former words of
pride by words of subsequent humility: nor is a debtor absolved
by not increasing his debt, unless he also pays what he has
incurred. Thus also, when we offend against God, we by no means make satisfaction by ceasing
For it is not as if God
were fed by our torments: but He heals the diseases of our
transgressions by medicines opposed to them that we, who have departed
from Him delighted by pleasures, may return to Him embittered by tears;
and that, having fallen by running loose in unlawful things, we may
rise by restraining ourselves even in lawful ones; and that the heart
which mad joy had flooded may be burnt clean by wholesome
sadness: and that what the elation of pride had wounded may be
cured by the dejection of a humble life. For hence it is
written, I said unto the wicked, Deal not wickedly; and to the
transgressors, lift not up the horn ( In English
Bible, lxxv. 4. Ibid. li. 17.
Chapter XXXI.
How those are to be admonished who praise the unlawful things of which they are conscious, and those who while condemning them, in no wise guard against them.
(Admonition 32.) Differently to be
admonished are they who even praise the unlawful things which they do,
and those who censure what is wrong, and yet avoid it not. For
they who even praise the unlawful things which they do are to be
admonished to consider how for the most part they offend more by the
mouth than by deeds. For by deeds they perpetrate wrong things in
their own persons only; but with the mouth they bring out wickedness in
the persons of as many as there are souls of hearers, to whom they
teach wicked things by praising them. They are therefore to be
admonished that, if they evade the eradication of evil, they at least
be afraid to sow it. They are to be admonished to let their own
individual perdition suffice them. And again they are to be
admonished that, if they fear not to be bad, they at least blush to be
seen to be what they are. For usually a sin, when it is
concealed, is shunned; because, when a soul blushes to be seen to be
what nevertheless it does not fear to be, it comes in time to blush to
be what it shuns being seen to be. But, when any bad man
shamelessly courts notice, then the more freely he perpetrates every
wickedness, the more does he come even to think it lawful; and in what
he imagines to be lawful he is without doubt sunk ever more and
more. Hence it is written, They have declared their sin as
Sodom, neither have they hidden it (
But, on the other hand, those who censure wrong
things and yet avoid them not are to be admonished to weigh
circumspectly what they can say in their own excuse before the strict
judgment of God, seeing they are not excused
from the guilt of their crimes, even themselves being judges.
What, then, are these men but their own summoners? They give
their voices against misdeeds, and deliver themselves up as guilty in
their doings. They are to be admonished to perceive how it even
now comes of the hidden retribution of judgment that their mind is
enlightened to see the evil which it perpetrates, but strives not
to
In
English Bible, lv. 15.
Chapter XXXII.
How those are to be admonished who sin from sudden impulse and those who sin deliberately.
(Admonition 33.). Differently to be
admonished are those who are overcome by sudden passion and those who
are bound in guilt of set purpose. For those whom sudden passion
overcomes are to be admonished to regard themselves as daily set in the
warfare of the present life, and to protect the heart, which cannot
foresee wounds, with the shield of anxious fear; to dread the hidden
darts of the ambushed foe, and, in so dark a contest, to guard with
continual attention the inward camp of the soul. For, if the
heart is left destitute of the solicitude of circumspection, it is laid
open to wounds; since the crafty enemy strikes the breast the more
freely as he catches it bare of the breastplate of forethought.
Those who are overcome by sudden passion are to be admonished to cease
caring too much for earthly things; since, while they entangle their
attention immoderately in transitory things, they are not aware of the
darts of sins which pierce them. Whence, also, the utterance of
one that is stricken and yet sleeps is expressed by Solomon, who says,
They have beaten me, and I was not pained; they have dragged me, and
I felt it not. When shall I awake and again find wine
(
But, on the other hand, those who of set purpose
are bound in guilt, are to be admonished to perpend with wary
consideration how that, when they do what is evil of their own
judgment, they kindle stricter judgment against themselves; and that by
so much the harder sentence will smite them as the chains of
deliberation have bound them more tightly in guilt. Perhaps they
might sooner wash away their transgressions by penitence, had they
fallen into them through precipitancy alone. For the sin is less
speedily loosened which of set purpose is firmly bound. For
unless the soul altogether despised eternal things, it would not perish
in guilt advisedly. In this, then, those who perish of set
purpose differ from those who fall through precipitancy; that the
former, when they fall by sin from the state of righteousness, for the
most part fall also into the snare of desperation. Hence it is
that the Lord through the Prophet reproves not
so much the wrong doings of precipitance as purposes of sin, saying,
Lest perchance my indignation come out as fire, and be inflamed, and
there be none to quench it because of the wickedness of your
purposes (
Chapter XXXIII.
How those are to be admonished who commit very small but frequent faults, and those who, while avoiding such as are very small, are sometimes plunged in such as are grievous.
(Admonition 34.) Differently to be
admonished are those who, though the unlawful things they do are very
small, yet do them frequently, and those who keep themselves from small
sins, but are sometimes plunged in such as are grievous. Those
who frequently transgress, though in very small things, are to be
admonished by no means to consider the quality of the sins they commit,
but the quantity. For, if they scorn being afraid when they weigh
their deeds, they ought to be alarmed when they number them; seeing
that deep gulphs of rivers are filled by small but innumerable drops of
rain; and bilge-water, increasing secretly, has the same effect as a
storm raging openly; and the sores that break out on the members in
scab are minute; but, when a multitude of them gets possession in
countless numbers, it destroys the life of the body as much as one
grievous wound inflicted on the breast. Hence for certain it is
written, He that contemneth small things falleth by little and
little (
But, on the other hand, those who keep themselves
from small sins, but are sometimes plunged in grievous ones, are to be
admonished anxiously to apprehend the state they are in; how that,
while their heart is lifted up for very small things guarded against,
they are so swallowed up in the very gulph of their own elation as to
perpetrate others that are more grievous, and, while they outwardly
master little ills, but are puffed up inwardly with vain glory, they
prostrate their soul, overcome within itself by the sickness of pride,
amid greater ills even outwardly. Those, then, who keep
themselves from little faults, but are sometimes plunged in such as are
grievous, are to be admonished to take care lest they fall inwardly
where they suppose themselves to be standing outwardly, and lest,
according to the retribution of the strict judge, elation on account of
lesser righteousness become a way to the pitfall of more grievous
sin. For such as, vainly elated, attribute their keeping of the
least good to their own strength, being justly left to themselves are
overwhelmed in greater sins; and by falling they learn that their
standing was not of themselves, so that immeasurable ills may humble
the heart that is exalted by the smallest good. They are to be
admonished to consider that, while in their more grievous faults they
bind themselves in deep guilt, they nevertheless for the most part sin
worse in the little faults which they guard against; because, while in
the former they do what is wicked, in the latter they hide from men
that they are wicked. Whence it comes to pass that, when they
perpetrate greater evils before God, it is a
case of open iniquity; and when they are careful to observe small good
things before men, it is a case of pretended holiness. For hence
it is that it is said of the Pharisees, Straining out a gnat, but
swallowing a camel (
Chapter XXXIV.
How those are to be admonished who do not even begin good things, and those who do not finish them when begun.
(Admonition 35.) Differently to be admonished are they who do not even begin good things, and those who in no wise complete such as they have begun. For as to those who do not even begin good things, for them the first need is, not to build up what they may wholesomely love, but to demolish that wherein they are wrongly occupied. For they will not follow the untried things they hear of, unless they first come to feel how pernicious are the things that they have tried; since neither does one desire to be lifted up who knows not the very fact that he has fallen; nor does one who feels not the pain of a wound seek any healing remedy. First, then, it is to be shewn to them how vain are the things that they love, and then at length to be carefully made known to them how profitable are the things that they let slip. Let them first see that what they love is to be shunned, and afterwards perceive without difficulty that what they shun is to be loved. For they sooner accept the things which they have not tried, if they recognize as true whatever discourse they may hear concerning the things that they have tried. So then they learn to seek true good with fulness of desire, when they have learnt with certainty of judgment how vainly they have held to what was false. Let them be told, therefore, both that present good things will soon pass away from enjoyment, and also that the account to be given of them will nevertheless endure, without passing away, for vengeance; since both what pleases them is withdrawn from them now against their will, and what pains them is reserved them, also against their will, for punishment. Thus may they be wholesomely filled with alarm by the same things in which they harmfully take delight; so that when the stricken soul, in sight of the deep ruin of its fall, perceives that it has reached a precipice, it may retrace its steps backward, and, fearing what it had loved, may learn to esteem highly what it once despised.
For hence it is that it is said to Jeremiah when
sent to preach, See, I have this day set thee over the nations and
over the kingdoms, to pluck out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and
to scatter, and to build, and to plant (
But, on the other hand, those who in no wise
complete the good things they have begun are to be admonished to
consider with cautious circumspection how that, when they accomplish
not their purposes, they tear up with them even the things that had
been begun. For, if that which is seen to be a thing to be done
advances not through assiduous application, even that which had been
well done falls back. For the human soul in this world is, as it
were, in the condition of a ship ascending against the stream of a
river: it is never suffered to stay in one place, since it will
float back to the nethermost parts unless it strive for the
uppermost. If then the strong hand of the worker carry not on to
perfection the good things begun, the very slackness in working fights
against what has been wrought. For hence it is that it is said
through Solomon, He that is feeble and slack in work is brother to
him that wasteth his works (
Chapter XXXV.
How those are to be admonished who do bad things secretly and good things openly, and those who do contrariwise.
(Admonition 36.) Differently to be
admonished are those who do bad things in secret and good things
publicly, and those who hide the good things they do, and yet in some
things done publicly allow ill to be thought of them. For those
who do bad things in secret and good things publicly are to be
admonished to consider with what swiftness human judgments flee away,
but with what immobility divine judgments endure. They are to be
admonished to fix the eyes of their mind on the end of things; since,
while the attestation of human praise passes away, the heavenly
sentence, which penetrates even hidden things, grows strong unto
lasting retribution. When, therefore, they set their hidden wrong
things before the divine judgment, and their right things before human
eyes, both without a witness is the good which they do publicly, and
not without an eternal witness is their latent transgression. So
by concealing their faults from men, and displaying their virtues, they
both discover while they hide what they deserve to be punished for, and
hide while they discover what they might have been rewarded for.
Such persons the Truth calls whited sepulchres, beautiful outward, but
full of dead men’s bones (
But, on the other hand, those who do good things
in secret, and yet in some things done publicly allow evil to be
thought of them, are to be admonished that, while what is good in them
quickens themselves in the virtue of well-doing, they themselves slay
not others through the example of a bad repute; that they love not
their neighbours less than themselves, nor, while themselves imbibing a
wholesome drought of wine, pour out a pestiferous cup of poison to
minds intent on observing them. These assuredly in one way little
help the life of their neighbour, and in the other greatly burden it,
while they both study to do what is right unseen, and also, in some
things in which they set an example, sow from themselves the seeds of
evil. For whosoever is already competent to tread under foot the
lust of praise commits a fraud on edification, if he conceals the good
things he does; and he steals away, as it were, the roots of
germination after having cast the seed, who shews not forth the work
that is to be imitated. For hence in the Gospel the Truth says,
That they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is
in heaven (
What means then its being enjoined both that our
work is so to be done as not to be seen, and yet that it should be
seen, but that the things we do are to be hidden, lest we ourselves
should be praised, and yet to be shewn, that we may increase the praise
of our heavenly Father? For, when the Lord forbade us to do our righteousness before men, He
straightway added, To be seen of them. And again, when He
enjoined that our good works were to be seen of men, He forthwith
subjoined, That they may glorify your Father which is in heaven
(
Chapter XXXVI.
Concerning the exhortation to be addressed many at once, that It may so aid the virtues of each among them that vices contrary to such virtues may not grow up through it.
These are the things that a Bishop of souls should observe in the diversity of his preaching, that he may solicitously oppose suitable medicines to the diseases of his several hearers. But, whereas it is a matter of great anxiety, in exhorting individuals, to be of service to them according to their individual needs, since it is a very difficult thing to instruct each person in what concerns himself, dealing out due consideration to each case, it is yet far more difficult to admonish innumerable hearers labouring under various passions at one and the same time with one common exhortation. For in this case the speech is to be tempered with such art that, the vices of the hearers being diverse, it may be found suitable to them severally, and yet be not diverse from itself; that it pass indeed with one stroke through the midst of passions, but, after the manner of a two-edged sword, cut the swellings of carnal thoughts on either side; so that humility be so preached to the proud that yet fear be not increased in the timid; that confidence be so infused into the timid that yet the unbridled licence of the proud grow not; that solicitude in well doing be so preached to the listless and torpid that yet licence of immoderate action be not increased in the unquiet; that bounds be so set on the unquiet that yet careless torpor be not produced in the listless; that wrath be so extinguished in the impatient that yet negligence grow not in the easy and soft-hearted; that the soft-hearted be so inflamed to zeal that yet fire be not added to the wrathful; that liberality in giving be so infused into the niggardly that yet the reins of profusion be in no wise loosened to the prodigal; that frugality be so preached to the prodigal that yet care to keep perishable things be not increased in the niggardly; that marriage be so praised to the incontinent that yet those who are already continent be not called back to voluptuousness; that virginity of body be so praised to the continent that yet fecundity of the flesh come not to be despised by the married. Good things are so to be preached that ill things be not assisted sideways. The highest good is so to be praised that the lowest be not despaired of. The lowest is so to be cherished that there be no cessation of striving for the highest from the lowest being thought sufficient.
Chapter XXXVII.
Of the exhortation to be applied to one person, who labours under contrary passions.
It is indeed a serious labour for the preacher to keep
an eye in his public preaching to the hidden affections and motives of
individuals, and, after the manner of the palæstra, to turn
himself with skill to either side: yet he is worn with much
severer labour, when he is compelled to preach to one person who is
subject to contrary vices. For it is commonly the case that some
one is of too joyous a constitution, and yet sadness suddenly arising
immoderately
Chapter XXXVIII.
That sometimes lighter vices are to be left alone, that more grievous ones may be removed.
But since, when the sickness of two vices attacks
a man, one presses upon him more lightly, and the other perchance more
heavily, it is undoubtedly right to haste to the succour of that
through which there is the more rapid tendency to death. And, if
the one cannot be restrained from causing the death which is imminent
unless the other which is contrary to it increase, the preacher must be
content by skilful management in his exhortation to suffer one to
increase, to the end that he may keep the other back from causing the
death which is imminent. When he does this, he does not aggravate
the disease, but preserves the life of his sufferer to whom he
administers the medicine, that he may find a fitting time for searching
out means of recovery. For there is often one who, while he puts
no restraint on his gluttony in food, is presently pressed hard by the
stings of lechery, which is on the point of overcoming him, and who,
when, terrified by the fear of this struggle, he strives to restrain
himself through abstinence, is harassed by the temptation of
vain-glory: in which case certainly one vice is by no means
extinguished unless the other be fostered. Which plague then
should be the more ardently attacked but that which presses on the man
the more dangerously? For it is to be tolerated that through the
virtue of abstinence arrogance should meanwhile grow against one that
is alive, lest through gluttony lechery should cut him off from life
entirely. Hence it is that Paul, when he considered that his weak
hearer would either continue to do evil or rejoice in the reward of
human praise for well-doing, said, Wilt thou not be afraid of the
power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the
same (
Chapter XXXIX.
That deep things ought not to be preached at all to weak souls.
But the preacher should know how to avoid drawing
the mind of his hearer beyond its strength, lest, so to speak, the
string of the soul, when stretched more than it can bear, should be
broken. For all deep things should be covered up before a
multitude of hearers, and scarcely opened to a few. For hence the
Truth in person says, Who, thinkest thou, is the faithful and wise
steward, whom his Lord has appointed over his
household, to give them their measure of wheat in due season?
(
Chapter XL.
Of the work and the voice of preaching.
But in the midst of these things we are brought back by the earnest desire of charity to what we have already said above; that every preacher should give forth a sound more by his deeds than by his words, and rather by good living imprint footsteps for men to follow than by speaking shew them the way to walk in. For that cock, too, whom the Lord in his manner of speech takes to represent a good preacher, when he is now preparing to crow, first shakes his wings, and by smiting himself makes himself more awake; since it is surely necessary that those who give utterance to words of holy preaching should first be well awake in earnestness of good living, lest they rouse others with their voice while themselves torpid in performance; that they should first shake themselves up by lofty deeds, and then make others solicitous for good living; that they should first smite themselves with the wings of their thoughts; that whatsoever in themselves is unprofitably torpid they should discover by anxious investigation, and correct by strict animadversion, and then at length set in order the life of others by speaking; that they should take heed to punish their own faults by bewailings, and then denounce what calls for punishment in others; and that, before they give voice to words of exhortation, they should proclaim in their deeds all that they are about to speak.
Part IV.
How the Preacher, When He Has Accomplished All Aright, Should Return to Himself, Lest Either His Life or His Preaching Lift Him Up.
But since often, when preaching is abundantly
poured forth in fitting ways, the mind of the speaker is elevated in
itself by a hidden delight in self-display, great care is needed that
he may gnaw himself with the laceration of fear, lest he who recalls
the diseases of others to health by remedies should himself swell
through neglect of his own health; lest in helping others he desert
himself, lest in lifting up others he fall. For to some the
greatness of their virtue has often been the occasion of their
perdition; causing them, while inordinately secure in confidence of
strength, to die unexpectedly through negligence. For virtue
strives with vices; the mind flatters itself with a certain delight in
it; and it comes to pass that the soul of a well-doer casts aside the
fear of its circumspection, and rests secure in self-confidence; and to
it, now torpid, the cunning seducer enumerates all things that it has
done well, and exalts it in swelling thoughts as though superexcellent
beyond all beside. Whence it is brought about, that before the
eyes of the just judge the memory of virtue is a pitfall of the soul;
because, in calling to mind what it has done well, while it lifts
itself up in its own eyes, it falls before the author of
humility. For hence it is said to the soul that is proud, For
that thou art more beautiful, go down, and sleep with the
uncircumcised ( In English
Bible, lxviii. 61.
But it, when lifted up, is forsaken, and, being
forsaken, it is recalled to fear. For hence David says again,
I said in mine abundance, I shall not be moved for ever
( Ibid. xxx. 6. Ibid. cxix.
106.
See now, good man, how, compelled by the necessity laid upon me by thy reproof, being intent on shewing what a Pastor ought to be, I have been as an ill-favoured painter pourtraying a handsome man; and how I direct others to the shore of perfection, while myself still tossed among the waves of transgressions. But in the shipwreck of this present life sustain me, I beseech thee, by the plank of thy prayer, that, since my own weight sinks me down, the hand of thy merit may raise me up.
————————————
Book I.
The Month of September, Indiction IX., Being the First Year of His Ordination.
Epistle I.
To all the Bishops of Sicily.
Gregory, servant of the servants of God “Sanctus
Gregorius primus omnium se principio epistolarum suarum servum
servorum. Dei satis humiliter definivit.”
(Joan Diac. in Vit. S. Greg. l. ii. c. 1). The
designation, however, had been used by others before him, as by Pope
Damasus (Ep. IV. ad Stephanum et Africæ
Episcopos), and Augustine (Ep. ad Vitalem). Gregory
may have been the first to use it habitually. It is true that in
the Registrum Epistolarum we find it four times only, viz., in
the headings of Epistles I. 1, I. 36, VI. 51, XIII. 1. But it may
have been omitted in the copies of his letters preserved at Rome.
This is probable from the fact that it occurs in the letters relating
to the English Mission as given by Bede, though absent from the same
letters in the Registrum.
We have plainly perceived it to be very necessary that, even as our predecessors thought fit to do, we should commit all things to one and the same person; and that, where we cannot be present ourselves, our authority should be represented through him to whom we send our instructions. Wherefore, with the help of God, we have appointed Peter, subdeacon of our See, our delegate in the province of Sicily. Nor can we doubt as to the conduct of him to whom, with the help of God, we are known to have committed the charge of the whole patrimony of our church.
This also we have plainly perceived to be a thing that ought to be done; that once in the year your whole fraternity should assemble, at Syracuse or Catana, receiving, as we have charged him, the honour due to you; to the end that, together with the aforesaid Peter, subdeacon of our See, you may settle with due discretion whatever things pertain to the advantage of the churches of the province, or to the relief of the necessities of the poor and oppressed, or to the admonition of all, and the correction of those whose transgressions may peradventure be proved. From which council far be animosities, which are the nutriment of crimes, and may inward grudges die away, and that discord of souls which is beyond measure execrable. Let concord well-pleasing to God, and charity, approve you as His priests. Conduct all things, therefore, with such deliberation and calmness that yours may most worthily be called an Episcopal Council.
Epistle II.
To Justinus, Prætor of Sicily.
Gregory to Justinus, Prætor of Sicily.
What my tongue speaks my conscience approves;
since even before you had become engaged in the employments of any
office of dignity, I have greatly loved and greatly respected
you. For the very modesty of your deportment made certain
incipient claims on affection even from one who had been loth.
And, when I heard that you had come to administer the prætorship
of Sicily, I greatly rejoiced. But, since I have discovered that
a certain ill-feeling is creeping in between you and the ecclesiastics,
I have been exceedingly distressed. But now that you are occupied
with the charge of civil administration, and I with the care of this
ecclesiastical government, we can properly love one another in
particular so far as we do no harm to the general community.
Wherefore I beseech you by Almighty God,
before Whose tremendous judgment we must give account of our deeds,
that your Glory have always the fear of Him before your eyes, and never
allow anything to come in whereby even slight dissension may arise
between us. Let no gains draw you aside to injustice; let not
either the threats or the favours of any one cause you
As to what you write concerning the corn, the
magnificent Citonatus asserts very differently that no more has been
transmitted than what was supplied for replenishing the public granary
in satisfaction of what was due for the past indiction. Give
attention to this matter, since, if what is transmitted be at all
defective, it will be the death not of any one single person only, but
of the whole people together The population of
Rome had long been greatly dependent on Sicily for the supply of corn,
which it was the duty of the prætor to purchase and transmit to
Rome. Famine might result from failure of this supply.
Hence what is said further on the subject in this Epistle. Cf.
“Neminem vestrum præterit, judices omnem utilitatem
opportunitatemque provinciæ Siciliæ quæ ad commoda
populi Romani adjuncta sit consistere in re frumentaria maxime.
Nam cæteris rebus adjuvamur ex illa provincia, hac vero alimur et
sustinemur.” (Cicero in Verrem, Act II. lib. 3, c. 5.)
Now for the management of the patrimony of Sicily I have sent, as I think under the guidance of God, such a man as you will be in entire accord with, if you are a lover of what is right, as I have found you to be. Moreover, as to your desire that I should remember you kindly, I confess the truth when I say that, unless any injustice should creep in from the snares of the ancient foe, I have learnt thy Glory’s modesty to be such that I shah not blush to be thy friend.
Epistle III.
To Paul, Scholasticus.
Gregory to Paul, &c.
However strangers smile upon me on account of the dignity of my priestly office, this I take not much account of; but I do grieve not a little at your smiling upon me on this account, seeing that you know what I long for, and yet suppose me to have received advancement. For to me it would have been the highest advancement, if what I wished could have been fulfilled; if I could have accomplished my desire, which you have been long acquainted with, in the enjoyment of longed-for rest. Yet, since I am now detained in the city of Rome, tied by the chains of this dignity, I have something wherein I may even rejoice in addressing your Glory, seeing that, when the most eminent lord the ex-consul Leo comes, I suspect that you will not remain in Sicily; and when thou thyself also, tied by thine own dignity, shalt come to be detained in Rome, thou wilt come to know what sorrow and what bitterness I suffer. But when the magnificent Lord Maurentius, the Chartularius, comes to you, I pray thee concur with him in regard to the present straits of the Roman city, since outside we are stabbed without cease by hostile swords. But we are still more heavily pressed by danger within through a sedition of the soldiers. Further, we commend to your Glory in all respects Peter our sub-deacon, whom we have sent to rule the patrimony of the Church.
Epistle IV.
To John, Bishop of Constantinople For notice of him,
see III. 53, note.
Gregory to John, Bishop of Constantinople.
If the virtue of charity consists in the love of one’s neighbour, and we are commanded to love our neighbours as ourselves, how is it that your Blessedness does not love me even as yourself? For I know with what ardour, with what anxiety, you wished to fly from the burden of the episcopate; and yet you made no opposition to this same burden of the episcopate being imposed on me. It is evident, then, that you do not love me as yourself, seeing that you have wished me to take on myself that load which you were unwilling should be imposed on you. But since I, unworthy and weak, have taken charge of an old and grievously shattered ship (for on all sides the waves enter, and the planks, battered by a daily and violent storm, sound of shipwreck), I beseech thee by Almighty God to stretch out the hand of thy prayer to me in this my danger, since thou canst pray the more strenuously as thou standest further removed from the confusion of the tribulations which we suffer in this land.
My synodical epistle I will transmit with all possible speed, having despatched Bacauda, our brother and fellow-bishop, immediately after my ordination, as the bearer of this letter, while pressed by many and serious engagements.
Epistle V.
To Theoctista, Sister of the Emperor.
Gregory to Theoctista, &c.
With how great devotion my mind prostrates itself before
your Venerableness I cannot fully express in words; nor yet do I labour
to give utterance to it, since, even though I were silent, you read in
your heart your own sense
In English
Bible, lxix. 2. Ibid. xl. 12. In English
Bible, lxxiii. 18. Ibid. xxxvii.
20. Ibid. lxxxiii.
13.
Epistle VI.
To Narses, Patrician There are other
letters from Gregory to this Narses, viz. iv. 32, vi. 14, and perhaps
vii. 30. He may have been the same as the Narses who was a famous
general of the Emperor Maurice, and who was eventually burnt alive by
Phocas. (Theoph., Sim. V.)
Gregory to Narses, &c.
In describing loftily the sweetness of
contemplation, you have renewed the groans of my fallen state, since I
hear what I have lost inwardly while mounting outwardly, though
undeserving, to the topmost height of rule. Know then that I am
stricken with so great sorrow that I can scarcely speak; for the dark
shades of grief block up the eyes of my soul. Whatever is beheld
is sad, whatever is thought delightful appears to my heart
lamentable. For I reflect to what a dejected height of external
advancement I have mounted in falling from the lofty height of my
rest. And, being sent for my faults into the exile of employment
from the face of my Lord, I say with the
prophet, in the words, as it were of destroyed Jerusalem, He who
should comfort me hath departed far from me ( The animal called
βούβαλος is
described by Pliny (l. 8, c. 15) as “animal ferum in Africa,
vitulo ac cervo simile.” The reference in the text is to
The whole passage
is rather obscure to us, not having before us the letter from Narses,
which is replied to, or the previous ones from Gregory to which Narses
had referred. The drift seems to be as follows. Gregory, in
his former letter, had compared his being elected pope to a
bubalis being set to plough in the Lord’s field.
Narses had replied to the effect that even if he were a bubalus,
he was not therefore unfit, since bubali, with other wild
beasts, had been in St. Peter’s sheet, and pronounced
clean. To this Gregory now rejoins, “Yes; but those beasts
were to be slain before they might be eaten; and so you must first slay
me, per compuctionem—i.e. by so pricking me with
‘the sword of your mouth’ as to induce me to
comply—before you may eat me per obedientiam—i.e.
make use of me in the way you wish through my obedience to your
desire. Not being thus so far slain, I have a right to protest
against being made pope against my will.”
Further, as to the case of our brethren, I think
that, if God gives aid, it will be as thou
hast written. It was not, however, by any means right for me to
write about it at present to our most serene lords, since at the very
outset one should not begin with complaints. But I have written
to my well-beloved son, the deacon Honoratus Honoratus was at
this time Gregory’s apocrisiarius at Constantinople. We
find several letters addressed to him in this capacity, but none
throwing light on the case here referred to. Theodorus was the
court Physician at Constantinople, to whom Epistles III. 66, IV. 31,
VII. 28, are addressed.
Epistle VII.
To Anastasius, Patriarch of Antioch Anastasius had
been threatened with deposition and exile (a.d. 563) by the Emperor Justinian, and the sentence had
been carried into effect (a.d. 570) by
Justinian’s successor, Justin II. Notwithstanding this,
Gregory after his own accession acknowledged him as the true patriarch
of Antioch; and, probably owing to his intercession with the Emperor
Maurice, Anastasius was restored to his patriarchal See on the death of
Gregory, who had been intruded into it, a.d.
593. Other Epistles to, or concerning this Anastasius are I. 25,
26, 28; V. 39; VII. 27, 33; VIII. 2.
Gregory to Anastasius, &c.
I have found what your Blessedness has written to be as
rest to the weary, as health to the sick, as a fountain to the thirsty,
as shade to the oppressed with heat. For those words of yours did
not seem even to be expressed by the tongue of the flesh, inasmuch as
you so disclosed the spiritual love which you bear me as if your soul
itself were speaking. But very hard was that which followed, in
that your love enjoined me to bear earthly burdens, and that, having
first loved me spiritually, you
In English
Bible, cxix. 107. Ibid. lxix. 2.
Epistle IX.
To Peter the Subdeacon.
Gregory to Peter, &c.
Gregory, a servant of God, presbyter and abbot of the monastery of Saint Theodore in the province of Sicily constituted in the territory of Panormus, has given us to understand that men of the farm of Fulloniacus, which belongs to the holy Roman Church, are endeavouring to encroach on the boundaries of the farm of Gerdinia, bordering on the said farm of the holy Roman Church, which they [i.e. monks of St. Theodore] have possessed without dispute for innumerable years. And for this cause we desire you to go to the city of Panormus, and investigate the question in such sort (with the view of the right of possession remaining with those who have had it heretofore) that, if you shall find that the aforesaid monastery of Saint Theodore has possessed the boundaries concerning which the dispute has arisen without disturbance for forty years, you shall not allow it to suffer any damage, even though it were to the advantage of the holy Roman Church, but provide in all ways for its undisturbed security. But, if the agents of the holy Roman Church should shew that the monastery has not been in possession without dispute of its right for forty years, but that any question has been raised within that time concerning the said boundaries, let it be set at rest peaceably and legally by arbitrators chosen for the purpose. For not only do we wish that questions of wrong-doing that have never yet been mooted should be raised, but also that such as have been raised by others than ourselves should be speedily set at rest. Let thy experience, therefore, cause all to be so effectively adjusted, that no question relating to this matter may be hereafter referred to us again. Further, we desire that the testament of Bacauda, late Xenodochus, continue valid as when first made.
The month of November: ninth Indiction.
Epistle X.
To Bacauda and Agnellus, Bishops.
Gregory to Bacauda, &c.
The Hebrews dwelling in Terracina have petitioned
us for licence to hold, under our authority, the site of their
synagogue which they have held hitherto. But, inasmuch as we have
been informed that the same site is so near to the church that even the
sound of their psalmody reaches it, we have written to our brother and
fellow-bishop Peter that, if it is the case that the voices from the
said place are heard in the church, the Jews must cease to worship
there. Therefore let your Fraternity, with our above-named
brother and fellow-bishop, diligently inspect this place, and if you
find that there has been any annoyance to the church, provide another
place within the fortress, where the aforesaid Hebrews may assemble, so
that they may be able to celebrate their ceremonies without
impediment For the result of
this order, see below,
Epistle XI.
To Clementina, Patrician Another Epistle, X.
15, is addressed to the same lady.
Gregory to Clementina, &c.
Having received your Glory’s letter speaking
of the passing away of the late Eutherius of magnificent memory, we
give you to understand that our mind no less than yours is disturbed by
such a sorrow, in that we see how men of approved repute are by degrees
removed from this world, whose ruin is already evidenced in the actual
effects of the causes thereof. But it becomes us to withdraw
ourselves from it by the wise precaution of conversion The word
conversio commonly denotes entering a monastery.
That we are unable to accede to your request that
the deacon Anatholius should be sent to you is due to the circumstances
of the case, and not to any rigorous austerity. For we have
appointed him our steward
Vicedominum.
Epistle XII.
To John, Bishop of Urbs Vetus (Orvieto).
Gregory to John, &c.
Agapitus, abbot of the monastery of St. George, informs us that he endures many grievances from your Holiness; and not only in things that might be of service to the monastery in time of need, but that you even prohibit the celebration of masses in the said monastery, and also interdict burial of the dead there. Now, if this is so, we exhort you to desist from such inhumanity, and allow the dead to be buried, and masses to be celebrated there without any further opposition, lest the aforesaid venerable Agapitus should be compelled to complain anew concerning the matters referred to.
Epistle XVI.
To Severus, Bishop of Aquileia The bishops of
Istria, of whom the bishop Aquilea was Metropolitan, still refused to
accept the decree of the fifth Œcumenical Council, which had,
under the dictation of the Emperor Justinian, condemned certain
writings of three deceased prelates, Theodore of Mopsuesta, Theodoret
and Ibas, called “the three chapters” (tria
capitula). Severus the Metropolitan, summoned in this
letter with his suffragans to Rome, disregarded the summons, going
instead, at the instance of the Exarch Smaragdus, to Ravenna, where he
remained a year. On his return to his See he still held out,
though many of his bishops conformed. A schism hence ensued in
Istria, which continued during the life of Gregory (Joan. Diac. Vit.
S. Greg. iv. 37, 38). Other Epistles referring to the Istrian
schism are II. 46, 51; V. 51; IX. 9, 10; XIII. 33.
Gregory to Severus, &c.
As, when one who walks through devious ways takes anew the right path, the Lord embraces him with all eagerness, so afterwards, when one deserts the way of truth, He is more saddened with grief for him than He rejoiced over him with joy when he turned from error; since it is a less degree of sin not to know the truth than not to abide in it when known: and what is committed in error is one thing, but what is perpetrated knowingly is another. And we, from having formerly rejoiced in thy being incorporated in the unity of the Church, are now the more abundantly distressed for thy dissociation from the catholic society. Accordingly we desire thee, at the instance of the bearer of these presents, according to the command of the most Christian and most serene Emperor, to come with thy adherents to the threshold of the blessed Apostle Peter, that, a synod being assembled by the will of God, judgment may be passed concerning the doubt that is entertained among you.
Epistle XVII.
To all the Bishops of Italy.
Gregory to all, &c.
Inasmuch as the abominable Autharit Autharit
(al. Autharith, called by Paul. Diac.
Authari), who died at Pavia in this year (a.d. 591) had been king of the Lombards for six years,
having effected extensive conquests in Italy. “Rex
Authari apud Ticinum Nonas Septembris veneno, ut tradunt, accepto
moritur, postquam sex regnaverat annos.” (Paul. Diac. de
gestis Longob. iii. 36). It is he who is said to have
advanced to Rhegium at the toe of Italy. and there, riding up to a
pillar in the sea, to have touched it with the point of his spear, and
said, “As far as this shall the boundaries of the Lombards
extend.” (Paul. Diac. iii. 33.) He had been a
determined Arian. He was succeeded by Agilulph, whom his widow
Theodelinda, a Catholic Bavarian princess, selected as her
consort. With her Gregory carried on a very friendly
correspondence and probably through her influence, Agilulph himself,
originally an Arian, is said to have been converted to
Catholicity. Gregory’s letters to Theodelinda are IV. 4,
38; IX. 43; XIV. 12.
Epistle XVIII.
To Peter the Subdeacon.
Gregory to Peter, &c.
We have been informed that Marcellus of the Barutanian Church, who has had penance assigned him in the monastery of Saint Adrian in the same city of Panormus, not only is in want of food, but also suffers inconvenience from scarcity of clothing. Therefore we hold it necessary to enjoin your Activity by this present order to appoint for him as much as you may see to be needful in the way of food, clothing and bedding for his own maintenance, and provision for his servant; so that his want and nakedness may be provided for with such timely care that what you assign to this same man may be reckoned afterwards to your own account. So act, therefore, that you may both fulfil our command, and also by ordering this very thing well you may be able yourself to partake of the profit of the same. Further, there is this other matter that we enjoin you to look to without regard to the old custom that has now grown up; namely, that if any cities in the province of Sicily, for their sins, are known to be without pastoral government through the lapses of their priests, you should see whether there be any worthy of the office of priesthood among the clergy of the churches themselves, or out of the monasteries, and, after first enquiring into the gravity of their behaviour, send them to us, that the flock of each place may not be found destitute for any length of time through the lapse of its pastor. But if you should discover any vacant place in which no one of the same church is found fitted for such a dignity, send us word after the like careful enquiry, that some one may be provided whom God may have judged worthy of such ordination. For it is not right that from the deviation of one the Lord’s flock should be in danger of wandering abroad among precipices without a shepherd. For thus both the administration of places will go on, and there will remain no suspicion of the lapsed being restored to their former rank; and so may they repent the better.
Epistle XIX.
To Natalis, Bishop of Salona Salona was the
metropolis of the province of Dalmatia in Western Illyricum. The
misdoings of its bishop, Natalis, gave rise to a lengthy
correspondence. See, in addition to this letter, I. 20; II. 18,
19, 20, 52; III. 8, 32. He had, as appears from this letter and
others, desired to get rid of his archdeacon Honoratus, having
apparently some grudge against him, and with this a few would have
ordained him priest against his will, none but deacons being then
capable of holding the office of archdeacon. He was accused also
of addiction to unbecoming conviviality, and of neglecting his
episcopal duties. Eventually, after continued contumacy, he
appears to have satisfied Gregory in the matter of Honoratus, and also
to have reformed his own habits of life, after writing what appears
from Gregory’s reply to it to have been a racy letter in defence
of conviviality, which was taken in good part and replied to in a
good-humoured vein (II. 52). Gregory subsequently said of him,
“I was at one time much distressed concerning our brother and
fellow bishop Natalis, having experienced proud behaviour from
him. But since he has himself corrected his manners, he has
overcome me, and comforted my sadness” (II. 46).
Gregory to Natalis, &c.
The acts of your synod which you have transmitted to us, in which the Archdeacon Honoratus is condemned, we perceive to be full of the seed of strifes, seeing that the same person is at one and the same time advanced to the dignity of the priesthood against his will, and removed from the office of the diaconate as though unworthy of it. And, as it is just that no one who is unwilling should be advanced by compulsion, so I think we must be of opinion that no one who is innocent should be deposed from the ministry of his order unjustly. Nevertheless, since discord hateful to God excuses thy part in the transaction, we admonish thee to restore his place and administration to the Archdeacon Honoratus, and agree to supply him with attendance sufficient for his divine ministry. If cause of offence is still fomented between you, let the aforesaid Archdeacon submit himself to our audience and enquiry, when admonished to do so, and let thy love send to us a person instructed in the case, that in the presence of both, the Lord assisting us, we may be able to decide what justice approves without respect of persons.
Epistle XX.
To Honoratus, Deacon of Salona.
Gregory to Honoratus, &c.
Having read the contradictory letters which thou and thy
bishop have addressed to us against each other, we grieve that there is
so little charity between you. Nevertheless we enjoin thee to
continue in the administration of thy office, and, if the cause of
offence between you can, under the power of grace, be settled on the
spot, we believe it will be
Cimelia, from
Gr. κειμήλια.
Epistle XXI.
To Natalis, Bishop of Salona This appears to
have been the formal answer to the official letter sent by the bishop
of Salona to Gregory, congratulating him on his accession to the
popedom, having no connexion with, and perhaps written before, the
preceding Epistle XIX.
Gregory to Natalis, &c.
We have received at the hands of the deacon Stephen, whom you sent to us, the letters of thy Reverence, wherein you congratulate us on our promotion. And truly what has been offered in the kindness and earnestness of charity demands full credence, reason having prompted your pontifical order to rejoice with us. We therefore, being cheered by your greeting, declare in conscience that I undertook the burden of dignity with a sick heart. But, seeing that I could not resist the divine decrees, I have recovered a more cheerful frame of mind. Wherefore we write to entreat your Reverence that both we and the Christian flock committed to our care may enjoy the succour of your prayers, to the end that in the security of that protection we may have power to overcome the hurricanes of these times.
The month of February, ninth indiction.
Epistle XXV.
To John, Bishop of Constantinople, and the Other Patriarchs.
Gregory, to John of Constantinople, Eulogius of
Alexandria, Gregory of Antioch, John of Jerusalem, and Anastasias,
Ex-Patriarch of Antioch. A paribus A paribus
denotes that the Epistle is a copy of an identical one that has been
sent to more than one person, exemplis being perhaps
understood. Cf. I. 80; VI. 52, 54, 58; IX. 60, 106.
When I consider how, unworthy as I am, and resisting with my whole soul, I have been compelled to bear the burden of pastoral care, a darkness of sorrow comes over me, and my sad heart sees nothing else but the shadows which allow nothing to be seen. For to what end is a bishop chosen of the Lord but to be an intercessor for the offences of the people? With what confidence, then, can I come as an intercessor for the sins of others to Him before Whom I am not secure about my own? If perchance any one should ask me to become his intercessor with a great man who was incensed against him, and to myself unknown, I should at once reply, I cannot go to intercede for you, having no knowledge of that man from familiar acquaintance with him. If then, as man with man, I should properly blush to become an intercessor with one on whom I had no claim, how great is the audacity of my obtaining the place of intercessor for the people with God, whose friendship I am not assured of through the merit of my life! And in this matter I find a still more serious cause of alarm, since we all know well that, when one who is in disfavour is sent to intercede with an incensed person, the mind of the latter is provoked to still greater severity. And I am greatly afraid lest the community of believers, whose offences the Lord has so far indulgently borne with, should perish through the addition of my guilt to theirs. But, when in one way or another I suppress this fear, and with mind consoled give myself to the care of my pontifical office, I am deterred by consideration of the immensity of this very task.
“For indeed I consider with myself what
watchful care is needed that a ruler may be pure in thought, chief in
action, discreet in keeping silence, profitable in speech, a near
neighbour to every one in sympathy, exalted above all in contemplation,
a companion of good livers through humility, unbending against the
vices of evil-doers through zeal for righteousness What is here
printed between inverted commas, with much of what has come before,
occurs also in Regula Pastoralis, II. 1. So also long
passages afterwards, as will be seen.
Again, when I betake myself to consider the works required of the pastor, I weigh within myself what intent care is to be taken that he be “chief in action, to the end that by his living, he may point out the way of life to them that are put under him, &c.” [See Reg. Past., Pt. II. ch. 3, to the end.]
Again, when I betake myself to consider the duty of the pastor as to speech and silence, I weigh within myself with trembling care how very necessary it is that he should be discreet in keeping silence and profitable in speech, “lest he either utter what ought to be suppressed or suppress what ought to be uttered, &c.” [See Reg. Past., III., 4, down to “keep the unity of the faith.”]
Again, when I betake myself to consider what manner of man the ruler ought to be in sympathy, and what in contemplation, I weigh within myself that he “should be a near neighbour to every one in sympathy, and exalted above all in contemplation, to the end that through the bowels of loving-kindness, &c.” [See Reg. Past, Pt. II. ch. 5, to the end.]
Again, when I betake myself to consider what manner of man the ruler ought to be in humility, and what in strictness, I weigh within myself how necessary it is that he “should be, through humility, a companion to good livers, and, through the zeal of righteousness rigid against the vices of evil-doers &c.” [See Regula Pastoralis, Pt. II. ch. 6, down to “towards the perverse;” there being only a slight variation, not affecting the sense, in the wording of the concluding clause.] For hence it is that “Peter who had received from God, &c.” [See Reg. Past., Pt. II. ch. 6, down to “dominates over vices rather than over his brethren.”] He orders well the authority he has received who has learnt both to maintain it and to keep it in check. He orders it well who knows how both through it to tower above sins, and with it to set himself on an equality with other men.
Moreover, the virtue of humility ought to be so
maintained that the rights of government be not relaxed; lest, when any
prelate has lowered himself more than is becoming, he be unable to
restrain the life of his subordinates under the bond of discipline; and
the severity of discipline is to be so maintained that gentleness be
not wholly lost through the over-kindling of zeal. For often
vices shew themselves off as virtues, so that niggardliness would fain
appear as frugality, extravagance as liberality, cruelty as righteous
zeal, laxity as loving-kindness. Wherefore both discipline and
mercy are far from what they should be, if one be maintained without
the other. But there ought to be kept up with great skill of
discernment both mercy justly considerate, and discipline smiting
kindly. “For hence it is that, as the Truth teaches
(
Thus, having undertaken the burden of pastoral care, when I consider all these things and many others of like kind, I seem to be what I cannot be, especially as in this place whosoever is called a Pastor is onerously occupied by external cares; so that it often becomes uncertain whether he exercises the function of a pastor or of an earthly noble. And indeed whosoever is set over his brethren to rule them cannot be entirely free from external cares; and yet there is need of exceeding care lest he be pressed down by them too much. “Whence it is rightly said to Ezekiel, The priests shall not shave their heads, &c.” [See Reg. Past., Pt. II., ch. 7, to the end.]
But in this place I see that no such discreet
management is possible, since cases of such importance hang over me
daily as to overwhelm the mind, while they kill the bodily life.
Wherefore, most holy brother, I beseech thee by the Judge who is to
come, by the assembly of many thousand angels, by the Church of the
firstborn who are written in heaven, help me, who am growing weary
under this burden of pastoral care, with the intercession of thy
prayer, lest its weight oppress me beyond my strength. But, being
mindful of what is written, Pray for one another, that ye may be
healed (
Besides, since with the heart man believeth unto
righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation, I
confess that I receive and revere, as the four books of the Gospel so
also the four Councils: to wit, the Nicene, in which the perverse
doctrine of Arius is overthrown; the Constantinopolitan also, in which
the error of Eunomius and Macedonius is refuted; further, the first
Ephesine, in which the impiety of Nestorius is condemned; and the
Chalcedonian, in which the pravity of Eutyches and Dioscorus
Epistle XXVI.
To Anastasius, Patriarch of Antioch.
[The beginning of this epistle is the same as that of Epistle VII. to the same Anastasius as far as the words “stand on the shore of virtue”; after which it is continued as follows.]
But, as to your calling me the mouth and lantern
of the Lord, and alleging that I profit many
by speaking, and am able to give light to many, I confess that you have
brought me into a state of the greatest doubt in my estimate of
myself. For I consider what I am, and detect in myself no sign of
all this good. But I consider also what you are, and I do not
think that you can lie. When, then, I would believe what you say,
my infirmity contradicts me. When I would dispute what is said in
my praise, your sanctity contradicts me. But I pray you, holy
man, let us come to some agreement in this our contest, that, though it
is not as you say, it may be so because you say it. Moreover, I
have addressed my synodical epistle to you, as to the other patriarchs,
your brethren The Benedictine
Editors adopt the reading patribus instead of
fratribus. But the sense seems to require the latter. See Keys of St.
Peter’s sepulchre, in which had been inserted filings from his
alleged chains preserved at Rome, were often sent by Gregory to
distinguished friends (cf. III. 48; VI. 6; VII. 26; VIII. 35; IX. 122;
XI. 66), to be hung round the neck (VI. 6) or deposited (XI. 66), or
used for healing. For an account of how the filings were
obtained, see IV. 30. In one instance the key is described as
being of gold (VII. 26). To Eulogius of Alexandria is sent a
small cross containing filings from the chains, to be applied to his
sore eyes.
Epistle XXVII.
To Anastasius, Archbishop of Corinth.
Gregory to Anastasius, &c.
In proportion as the judgments of God are unsearchable ought they to be an object of fear to
human apprehension; so that mortal reason, being unable to comprehend
them, may of necessity bow under them the neck of a humble heart, to
the end that it may follow with the mind’s obedient steps where
the will of the Ruler may lead. I, then, considering that my
infirmity cannot reach to the height of the apostolic See, had rather
have declined this burden, lest, having pastoral rule, I should succumb
in action through inadequate administration. But, since it is not
for us to go against the will of the Lord who
disposes all, I obediently followed the way in which it pleased the
merciful hand of the Ruler to deal with me. For it was necessary
that your Fraternity should be informed, even though the present
opportunity had not occurred, how the Lord had
vouchsafed that I, however unworthy, should preside over the apostolic
See. Since, then, reason required this to be done, and an
opportunity having occurred through our sending to you the bearer of
these presents, that is, Boniface the guardian
(defensorem), we are careful not only to offer to your
Fraternity by letter the good wishes of charity, but also to inform you
of our ordination, as we believe you would wish us to do.
Wherefore let your Charity, by a letter in reply, cause us to rejoice
for the unity of the Church and the acceptable news of your own
welfare; to the end that our bodily absence from each other, which
distance of place causes us to endure, may become as presence through
interchange of letters. We exhort you, also, since we have
despatched the above-mentioned
Epistle XXVIII.
To Sebastian, Bishop of Rhisinum [in Dalmatia].
Gregory to Sebastian, &c.
Although I deserved to receive no letters from
your Blessedness, yet I also do not forget my own forgetfulness; I
blame my negligence, I stir up my sluggishness with goads of love, that
one who will not pay what he owes of his own accord, may learn even
under blows to render it. Furthermore, I inform you that I have
prepared a full representation, with urgent prayers to our most pious
lords, to the effect that they ought to have sent the most blessed
Lord patriarch Anastasius, with the use of the
pallium granted him, to the threshold of the blessed Peter, prince of
the apostles, to celebrate with me the solemnities of Mass; to the end
that, though he were not allowed to return to his See, he might at
least live with me, retaining his dignity. But of the reason that
has arisen for keeping back what I had thus written the bearer of these
presents will inform you. Nevertheless, ascertain the mind of the
said lord Anastasius, and inform me in your letters of whatever he may
wish to be done in this business See
Epistle XXIX.
To Aristobulus, Ex-Prefect and
Antigraphus I.e.
Secretary. “Scriptor idem est et cancellarius…quod
rescribit literis missis ad dominum suum.” Du Cange.
Gregory to Aristobulus, &c.
For fully expressing my affection I confess that my tongue suffices not: but your own affection will better tell you all that I feel towards you. I have heard that you are suffering from certain oppositions. But I am not greatly grieved for this, since it is often the case that a ship which might have reached the depths of the ocean had the breeze been favourable is driven back by an opposing wind at the very beginning of its voyage, but by being driven back is recalled into port. Furthermore, if you should by any chance receive for interpretation a lengthy letter of mine, translate it, I pray you, not word for word, but so as to give the sense; since usually, when close rendering of the words is attended to, the force of the ideas is lost.
Epistle XXXIII.
To Romanus, Patrician, and Exarch of Italy.
Gregory to Romanus, &c.
Even though there were no immediate cause for
writing to your Excellency, yet we ought to shew solicitude for your
health and safety so as to learn through frequent intercommunication
what we desire to hear about you. Besides, it has come to our
knowledge that Blandus, bishop of the city of Hortanum Al. Orta, in
Tuscia. This alleged
consequence of the bishop’s absence from his See does not imply
that he alone could administer baptism, but only that his authorization
was required for its administration. See Bingham, Bk. II. ch.
iii. Sect. 3, 4, and references there given: e.g. Ignat. Ep.
ad Smyrn. n. viii., “It is not lawful either to baptize or
celebrate the Eucharist without the bishop; but that which he allows is
well-pleasing to God:” Hieron. Dialog. c. Lucifer,
p. 139, “Thence it comes that, without the order of the bishop
neither presbyter nor deacon has the right of baptizing;” Can.
Apost. c. xxxviii., “Let the presbyters and deacons execute
no office without the knowledge of the bishop; for it is to him that
the Lord’s people are committed, and he must give an account of
their souls.” It was usual in episcopal cities to have only
one baptistery, connected with the bishop’s church; and these all
would be baptized, if not by the bishop himself (who was accounted the
chief minister of baptism), yet under his direction and
superintendence. Cf. Bingham, Bk. VIII., ch. vii., Sect. 6; Bk.
XI., ch. vii., Sect. 12, 13.
The month of March; the ninth Indiction.
To Venantius, Ex-Monk, Patrician of
Syracuse The relations of
Gregory to this Venantius are interesting; other letters throwing light
on them being III. 60; VI. 43, 44; IX. 123; XI. 30, 35, 36, 78.
Venantius was a patrician, resident in Sicily, who, having become a
monk, had discovered that he had mistaken his vocation and returned to
secular life. In the letter before us he is kindly, but very
earnestly, written to, in the hope of inducing him to retrace a step
which, from Gregory’s point of view, was so dangerous to his
friend’s soul. But the remonstrance was in vain.
Venantius appears, from an allusion in the letter, to have been
associated with a literary set of friends who took a view of the
purpose of life not in accordance with the monastic theory: and
other motives may have disposed him to listen to their advice, since we
find him afterwards married to a lady called Italica. She appears
to have been, like Venantius of patrician rank, and resident in Sicily
and to have possessed property there; for see III. 60, an epistle
addressed to “Italica Patricia,” remonstrating with her for
her alleged harsh treatment of certain poor people, who were under the
protection of the Church. It appears from this letter that
Gregory had known her previously, and it is observable that he makes
allusion to her personal charms (pulchritudo in superficie
corporis). There being no allusion in this letter to any
husband, it cannot be concluded that she was, at the time when it was
written, married to Venantius: but we may reasonably suppose her
to have been the same Italica who was subsequently addressed as his
wife, for see IX. 123, “Domno Venantio patricio et Italicæ
jugalibus.” The marriage may possibly have taken
place soon after Gregory’s first letter to Venantius, which, if
the date assigned be correct, was written in the 9th Indiction
(a.d. 590–l). It cannot well have
been much later, since in the 4th Indiction, i.e. a.d. 600–1 (still supposing the assigned dates
correct) there were two girls, the issue of the marriage, who were also
written to by Gregory after their father’s death, and seem then
to have been already old enough to be betrothed. See XI. 35, 36,
78. At some time subsequent to his marriage we find a letter of
serious admonition addressed to Venantius (VI. 43), who had quarrelled
with his bishop on some matters of business, and acted
violently. But, notwithstanding all such causes for
displeasure, Gregory continued on terms of cordial friendship with the
married couple, and took a warm interest in their children.
Having heard of Venantius being dangerously ill, he wrote a letter of
sympathy, addressed to him and his wife jointly, and at the end sent
greetings to his “most sweet daughters, the lady Barbara and the
lady Antonina” (IX. 123). Subsequently, when Venantius was
suffering from gout, he addressed him earnestly, but kindly; and, when
he was on his death-bed, and the inheritance of the daughter was in
jeopardy owing to certain claims made by certain persons on their
father’s estate, he wrote a short kind letter to the little
ladies, bidding them keep up their spirits so as to comfort their
father, assuring them that he himself would protect them after their
father’s death, and speaking of the debt of gratitude he owed for
the goodness to himself of both their parents. The mother not
being written to, or alluded to as alive, may be supposed to have died
previously. At the same time he wrote to John, bishop of Syracuse
(the same bishop with whom Venantius had been once for a time at
variance), urging him to do what he could to induce Venantius, even in
his last moments, to resume the monastic habit for the safety of his
soul and no less urgently charging him to take up the cause of the
orphan girls. Lastly (XI. 87), the girls are once more addressed
by Gregory in a kind letter, from which it seems, that, young as they
must have been, marriage was already in contemplation for them, and in
which he expresses his hope of seeing them at Rome. The
correspondence thus summarised is peculiarly interesting, as shewing
both Gregory’s strong sense of the sin and danger to the soul of
returning to the world from the monastic life, and also the continuance
of his friendship and affection to one who had thus sinned, and the
interest he could still take in his domestic happiness and the welfare
of his family.
Gregory to Venantius, &c.
Many foolish men have supposed that, if I were
advanced to the rank of the episcopate, I should decline to address
thee, or to keep up communication with thee by letter. But this
is not so; since I am compelled by the very necessity of my position
not to hold my peace. For it is written, Cry aloud, spare not,
lift up thy voice like a trumpet (
But I know that, when my letter is received,
forthwith friends come about thee, thy literary clients are called in,
and advice about the purpose of life is sought from the promoters of
death; who, loving not thee, but what belongs to thee, tell thee
nothing but what may please thee at the time. For such, as thou
thyself rememberest, were those thy former counsellors, who drew thee
on to the perpetration of so great a sin. To quote to thee
something from a secular author Seneca,
Epist. 3: “Tu omnia cum amico delibera, sed
de ipso prius. Post amicitiam credendum est; ante amicitiam
judicandum.”
Epistle XXXV.
To Peter, Bishop of Terracina.
Gregory to Peter, &c.
Joseph, a Jew, the bearer of these presents, has informed us that, the Jews dwelling in the camp of Terracina having been accustomed to assemble in a certain place for celebrating their festivities, thy Fraternity had expelled them thence, and that they had migrated, and this with thy knowledge and consent, to another place for in like manner observing their festivities; and now they complain that they have been expelled anew from this same place. But, if it is so, we desire thy Fraternity to abstain from giving cause of complaint of this kind, and that they be allowed, as has been the custom, to assemble in the place which, as we have already said, they had obtained with thy knowledge for their place of meeting. For those who dissent from the Christian religion must needs be gathered together to unity of faith by gentleness, kindness, admonition, persuasion, lest those whom the sweetness of preaching and the anticipated terror of future judgment might have invited to believe should be repelled by threats and terrors. It is right, then, that they should come together kindly to hear the word of God from you rather than that they should become afraid of overstrained austerity.
Epistle XXXVI.
To Peter the Subdeacon.
Gregory, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to Peter the Subdeacon.
The code of instructions which I gave thee on thy going
to Sicily must be diligently perused, so that the greatest care may be
taken concerning bishops, lest they mix themselves up in secular
causes, except so far as the necessity of defending the poor compels
them. But what is inserted in the same code concerning monks or
clerics ought, I think, in no respect to be varied from. But let
thy
As to the
rectores patrimonii, see Proleg. p. vii. Titulum
imponere seems to have meant originally setting up a scroll or
tablet on a property to assert a title to it; it might be in some cases
with a view to sale, letting, or to confiscation. I.e. the
Prætor of Sicily. Natalem,
i.e. birthday; denoting usually, in the case of a dignitary, the day of
his inauguration; and, in the case of a deceased saint, the day of his
death. Natalem,
i.e. birthday; denoting usually, in the case of a dignitary, the day of
his inauguration; and, in the case of a deceased saint, the day of his
death.
Epistle XXXIX.
To Anthemius, Subdeacon He was the
subdeacon who had charge of the patrimony in Campania, as appears from
other letters to him (see Index of Epistles).
Gregory to Anthemius, &c.
We charged thee on thy departure, and remember to have afterwards enjoined on thee by letter, to take care of the poor, and, if thou shouldest find any in those parts to be in want, to inform me by letter: and thou hast been at pains to do this with regard to very few. Now, I desire that, as soon as thou hast received this present order, thou offer to Pateria, my father’s sister, forty solidi for shoe-money for her boys, and four hundred modii of wheat; to the lady Palatina, the widow of Urbicus, twenty solidi and three hundred modii of wheat; to the lady Viviana, widow of Felix, twenty solidi and three hundred modii of wheat. And let all these eighty solidi be charged together in thy accounts. But bring hither with speed the sum of thy receipts, and be here, with the Lord’s help, by Easter Day.
To Peter, Subdeacon.
Gregory to Peter, &c.
The venerable Paulinus bishop of the city of Taurum (Taurianum in Brutia), has told us that his monks have been scattered by reason of barbaric invasions, and that they are now wandering through the whole of Sicily, and that, being without a ruler, they neither have a care of their souls, nor pay attention to the discipline of their profession. On this account we enjoin thee to search out with all care and diligence, and collect together, these same monks, and to place them with the said bishop, their ruler, in the monastery of Saint Theodorus situate in the city of Messana, that both such as are there now, whom we find to be in need of a ruler, and those of his congregation whom you may have found and brought back, may be able, under his leadership, to serve the Almighty Lord together. Know also that we have signified this matter to the venerable Felix, bishop of the same city, lest anything ordained in the diocese committed to him should be disturbed without his knowledge.
Epistle XLII.
To Anthemius, Subdeacon Rector patrimonii
and defensor in Campania. See above
Gregory to Anthemius, &c.
John, our brother and fellow-bishop, in a schedule
sent to us by his cleric Justus, has among many other things intimated
to us as follows: that some monks of the diocese of
Surrentum In Compania,
hodie Sorrento.
Epistle XLIII.
To Leander Bishop of Hispalis (Seville) Gregory made
the acquaintance of Leander, bishop of the Metropolitan See of Hispalis
(Seville) in Spain, during his residence at
Constantinople. It was at the instigation of Leander together
with the request of the monks who had followed him from his Roman
Monastery to Constantinople, that he had begun when there, to expound
the book of Job. The earlier part of his “Moralium
libri, sive Expositio in librum B. Job,” had been delivered in
oral discourses at Constantinople, but afterwards revised, arranged,
and completed in thirty-five books. The whole, when finished, was
addressed to Leander. All this appears from the “Epistola
Missoria” prefixed to the completed treatise. Gregory
evidently had a peculiar affection for Leander. Other epistles
addressed to him are V. 49, and IX. 121. He is spoken of also in
the Dialogues of Gregory, Lib. III. cap. 31, being there referred to as
“dudum mihi in amicitiis familiariter junctus.”
Gregory to Leander, &c.
I should have wished to reply to your letters with
full application of mind, were I not so worn by the labour of my
pastoral charge as to be more inclined to weep than to say
anything. And this your Reverence will take care to understand
and allow for in the very text of my letters, when I speak negligently
to one whom I exceedingly love. For, indeed, I am in this place
tossed by such billows of this world that I am in no wise able to steer
into port the old and rotten ship of which, in the hidden dispensation
of God, I have assumed the guidance. Now
in front the billows rush in, now at the side heaps of foamy sea swell
up, now from behind the storm follows on. And, disquieted in the
midst of all this, I am compelled sometimes to steer in the very face
of the opposing waters; sometimes, turning the ship aside, to avoid the
threats of the billows slantwise. I groan, because I feel that
through my negligence the bilgewater of vices increases, and, as the
storm meets the vessel violently, the rotten planks already sound of
shipwreck.
I cannot, however, at all fully express in words
my joy on having learnt that our common son, the most glorious King
Rechared, has been converted with most entire devotion to the Catholic
faith Reccared,
the Visigoth King in Spain, had declared himself a Catholic
a.d. 587 and formally renounced Arianism and
adopted the Catholic Creed at the Council of Toledo, a.d. 589. The date of the letter before us, if
rightly placed, is a.d. 591.
But with respect to trine immersion in baptism, no truer answer can be given than what you have yourself felt to be right; namely that, where there is one faith, a diversity of usage does no harm to holy Church. Now we, in immersing thrice, signify the sacraments of the three days’ sepulture; so that, when the infant is a third time lifted out of the water, the resurrection after a space of three days may be expressed. Or, if any one should perhaps think that this is done out of veneration for the supreme Trinity, neither so is there any objection to immersing the person to be baptized in the water once, since, there being one substance in three subsistences, it cannot be in any way reprehensible to immerse the infant in baptism either thrice or once, seeing that by three immersions the Trinity of persons, and in one the singleness of the Divinity may be denoted. But, inasmuch as up to this time it has been the custom of heretics to immerse infants in baptism thrice, I am of opinion that this ought not to be done among you; lest, while they number the immersions, they should divide the Divinity, and while they continue to do as they have been used to do, they should boast of having got the better of our custom. Moreover, I send to your to me most sweet Fraternity the volumes of which I have appended a notice below. What I had spoken in exposition of the blessed Job, which you express in your letter your wish to have sent to you, being weak both in sense and language as I had delivered it in homilies, I have tried as I could to change into the form of a treatise, which is in course of being written out by scribes. And, were I not crippled by the haste of the bearer of these presents, I should have wished to transmit to you the whole without diminution; especially as I have written this same work for your Reverence, that I may be seen to have sweated in my labours for him whom I love above all others. Besides, if you find time allowed you from ecclesiastical engagements, you already know how it is with me: even though absent in the body, I behold thee always present with me; for I carry the image of thy countenance stamped within the bowels of my heart. Given in the month of May.
Epistle XLIV.
To Peter, Subdeacon of Sicily.
Gregory to Peter, &c.
With regard to our having so long delayed sending off thy messenger, we have been so occupied with the engagements of the Paschal festival that we have been unable to let him go sooner. But, with regard to the questions on which thou hast desired instruction, thou wilt learn below how, after fully considering them all, we have determined them.
We have ascertained that the peasants Rusticos
ecclesiæ; i.e. the native cultivater of the land, called
elsewhere coloni, and by Cicero (In Verrem),
aratores. See Proleg. It appears from
Cicero that, when the Romans annexed Sicily, they found the greater
part of the land subject by ancient custom to a tithe of the corn and
other produce, and that such tithe continued to be enacted by the Roman
government, which derived thence its main revenue from the
island: further, that the custom had grown up of allowing a
pecuniary composition for the tithe, and that this custom, intended
originally for the accommodation of the tithe payers, had been abused
to their detriment by over valuation in years when corn was
cheap. One of the charges against Verres was that this had been
done under him as Prætor. When wheat was selling in Sicily
for two or at the most three sesterces per modius, the peasants
had been made to compound for their tithes at the rate of three
denarii, i.e. twelve secterces. (Cic. in Verr.
Divin. 10; Act II. Lib. iii. 6, 18). The Roman
Church having succeeded the Roman Government in the lordship of the
“Patrimony of St. Peter,” it appears that the Church
officials had not been guiltless of similar unfair exactions.
Hence the direction here in this Epistle that the valuations of the
tithe in successive years should follow the market price. This refers to the
corn which was sent annually in large quantities to Rome, and on which
the Romans were in a great measure dependent for their supply.
Those in Sicily who furnished it were, it seems, responsible for its
delivery, taking the risk of loss by sea. But it rested with the
Church officials to provide for its being shipped; and, if any loss on
the voyage ensued from their delay, the parties otherwise responsible
were to be indemnified. Ex
sextariaticis. This appears to have been a technical term,
denoting unjust exaction of the following kind. The peasants
(rustici) on an estate had to supply, let us say, so many
modii of corn to be shipped for Rome. But the
modius varied in capacity. It is said originally to have
contained sixteen sextarii, a sextarius being between a pint and
a quart. But it appears below that one of eighteen
sextarii was in use in the time of Gregory, and by him
allowed. This limit, however, seems to have been sometimes
exceeded, and herein consisted the abuse complained of. In a
subsequent epistle (XIII. 34) a modius of even twenty-five
sextarii is spoken of as having been in one case
used:—“We understand that the modius by which the
husbandmen (coloni) were compelled to give their corn was one of
twenty-five sextarii.”
We have also ascertained that on some
estates
Massis. These massæ might include several
farms (fundi, or prædia), and were let or leased to
farmers (conductores), who made their profit out of them.
Cf. xiv. 14, “Massam quæ Aquas Salvias nuncupatur cum
omnibus fundis suis;” also v. 31, “Conductoribus massarum
per Galliam.”
Conductores. See last note. Pensantem ad
septuagena bina. It would seem that, in addition to the abuse
of using modii of too large capacity, there was the additional
one of exacting more modii than were legally due, three and a
half being added to every seventy; i.e. one to every twenty. Cf.
Cicero in Verrem, “Ab Siculis aratoribus, præter
decumam, ternæ quinquagesimæ (i.e. three for every fifty)
exigebantur.” If the reading septuagena bina be
correct, it would seem that Gregory allowed two to be added to every
seventy perhaps on the ground of long-established custom. The
readings, however, vary; and what was meant is uncertain.
Siliquæ. In Roman weights the uncia contained
144 siliquæ, and the as or libra 12
unciæ. The reference seems to be to cases in which
the grain or other produce was rendered by weight. The just pound
was not to be exceeded.
Before all things we desire thee carefully to
attend to this; that no unjust weights be used in exacting
payments. If thou shouldest find any, break them and cause true
ones to be made. For my son the servant of God, Diaconus, has already found such as displeased him;
but he had not liberty to change them. We will, then, that,
saving excepted cibaria of small value Præter
excepta et vilia cibaria. Cibaria bears the general sense of
victuals or provender; and specifically, “Cibarium, teste, Plin.
I. 18, c. 9, ubi de siligine agit, dicitur farina quæ post
pollinem seu florem excussum restat, postquam nihil aliud remanet nisi
furfures: the second sort of flour.
Eadem dicitur secundarium. Ex ea qui conficitur vocatur panis
cibarius, quia solet esse communis vulgi cibus.”
Facciolati. The adjective cibarius is applied to
provisions generally, wine, oil, bread, &c., of a common and
inferior kind, and consumed by the common people. The reference
in the text may be to refuse and inferior grain or other breadstuff, of
which an excessive weight might be exacted to make up for its inferior
quality. Colonis,
meaning the same as rustici. See note 1.
Further, we have ascertained that the first charge
of burdatio
Burdationis. This appears to have been a kind of land tax,
payable in the first instance, before the peasants had been able to
convert their produce into money. “Burdatio est pensio
quæ a rusticis præstatur prædii nomine, quod Burdam
vocant, nostri Borde.” Alteserra.
Auctionariis. “Mercator qui res suas auget; et
proprie dicitur ille qui hic vel illic res parvas et veteres et tritas
eruit, ut postea carius vendat.” Du Cange.
It has come to our knowledge also that immoderate
fees
Commoda. The word commodum denotes properly a
bounty (as to soldiers over and above their pay), a gratuity, a
voluntary offering, though used also for a stipend, or payment
generally. The peasants (rustici) might not marry without
permission. Cf. xii. 25, “ut eum districte debeas commonere
ne filios suos quolibet ingenio vel excusatione foris alicubi in
conjugio, sociare præsumat, sed in ea massa cui lege et conditione
ligati sunt socientur.” For such permission they were, it
seems, accustomed to pay a fee, in theory perhaps voluntary, but
virtually exacted as a due.
We have also ascertained that when some farmers die their relatives are not allowed to succeed them, but that their goods are withdrawn to the uses of the Church: with regard to which thing we decree that the relatives of the deceased who live on the property of the Church shall succeed them as their heirs, and that nothing shall be withdrawn from the substance of the deceased. But, if any one should leave young children, let discreet persons be chosen to take charge of their parents’ goods, till they come to such an age as to be able to manage their own property.
We have ascertained also that, if any one of a
family has committed a fault, he is required to make amends, not in his
own person, but in his substance: concerning which practice we
order that, whosoever has committed a fault, he shall be punished in
his own person as he deserves Because a fine
would have to be paid out of the common substance of the family, and so
all would be punished for the offence of one.
It has come to our ears that three pounds of gold
have been unjustly taken away from Peter the farmer of Subpatriana;
concerning which matter examine closely Fantinus the guardian
(defensorem On the office of
defensores, see Proleg. See note 2.
The glorious magister militum Campanianus
had left twelve solidi a year out of the Varronian estate to his
notary John; and this we order thee to pay every year without any
hesitation to the granddaughter of Euplus the farmer, although she may
have received all the
Suppositorium. The word itself might denote anything put
under another, or supporting another. Here its being associated
with a cup (calix), and both being called small vessels
(vascula), suggests the translation in the text.
We thank thy Solicitude for that, after I had enjoined thee, in the business of my brother, to send him back his money, thou hast so consigned the matter to oblivion as if something had been said to thee by the last of thy slaves. But now let even thy Negligence—I cannot say thy Experience—study to get this done; and whatever of his thou mayest find to be in the hands of Antoninus send back to him with all speed.
In the matter of Salpingus the Jew a letter has been found which we have caused to be forwarded to thee, in order that, after reading it and becoming fully acquainted with his case and that of a certain widow who is said to be implicated in the same business, thou mayest make answer as may appear to thee just concerning the fifty-one solidi which are known to be returnable, so that the creditors may in no way be defrauded unjustly of the debts due to them.
A moiety of his legacy has been given to
Antoninus; a moiety will be redeemed: which moiety we desire to
be made up to him out of the common substance; and not to him only, but
also to the guardians (defensoribus) and strangers
(pergrinis) to whom he [the testator] has left anything under
the title of a legacy. To the family (familiæ) also
we desire the legacy to be paid; which, however, is our concern.
Having, then, made up the account for our part, that is for
three-quarters, make the payment The meaning of these
directions is obscure owing to our ignorance of the circumstances.
We desire thee to give something out of the money of the Church of Canusium to the clergy of the same Church, to the end that they who now suffer from want may have some sustenance; and that, if it should please God that a bishop should be ordained, he may have a maintenance.
As to lapsed The word
lapsi was the regular one for denoting clergy or others, who had
fallen into sin rendering them liable to excommunication.
Three years ago the subdeacons of all the churches in Sicily, in accordance with the custom of the Roman Church, were forbidden all conjugal intercourse with their wives. But it appears to me hard and improper that one who has not been accustomed to such continency, and has not previously promised chastity, should be compelled to separate himself from his wife, and thereby (which God forbid) fall into what is worse. Hence it seems good to me that from the present day all bishops should be told not to presume to make any one a subdeacon who does not promise to live chastely; that so what was not of set purpose desired in the past may not be forcibly required, but that cautious provision may be made for the future. But those who since the prohibition of three years ago have lived continently with their wives are to be praised and rewarded, and exhorted to continue in their good way. But, as for those who since the prohibition have been unwilling to abstain from intercourse with their wives, we desire them not to be advanced to a sacred order; since no one ought to approach the ministry of the altar but one who has been of approved chastity before undertaking the ministry.
For Liberatus the tradesman, who has commended himself to the Church, dwelling on the Cincian estate, we desire thee to make an annual provision; which provision do thou estimate thyself as to what it ought to be, that it may be reported to me and charged in thy accounts. With regard to the present indiction I have already got information from our son the servant of God Diaconus.
It was
against monastic rule for monks or nuns to retain property of their own
after profession, or the power of disposing of it by will. It
became the common property of the monastery. Cf. Justinian,
Novell. V. c. 38. See also what was said above about the
goods of lapsed members of religious communities. In a subsequent
Epistle (IX. 7), Gregory annulls a will that had been made by an abbess
Sirica. The case of one Probus, an abbot (Appendix, Ep.
IX.), who was allowed to make a will, is no real exception to the
rule. For Gregory gave him special permission to do so on his own
petition, on the equitable ground that at the time of his hasty
ordination as abbot, not having been a monk previously, he had
neglected to make provision for his son by will, as he had intended to
do, and as he had then a right to do. In the case before us
Gregory acts with lenient consideration. Though condemning the
bequest of the monk John to the guardian Fantinus, he allows the latter
to take it on the ground that he deserved, but had not so far received,
a proper remuneration for his services.
As to the money of Rusticianus, look thoroughly
into the case, and carry out what appears to thee to be just.
Admonish the magnificent Alexander Magnificum
virum. Who this Alexander was is not known. His
designation implies a position of rank. An Alexander appears
afterwards as Prætor of Sicily (VI. 8): but the Prætor
of this year was Justinus (see above, Ep. II.), who was apparently
succeeded by Libertinus (III. 38).
Restore without any delay the donation of the
handmaiden of God Ancillæ
Dei. So were called, not professed nuns only, but also others
who devoted themselves to virginity and religious lives.
Gregory’s own aunts, Tarsilla and Æmiliana, who lived
as dedicated virgins in their own home, were instances. See
Proleg. p. xiv.
Send to us the payments of Xenodochius of Via Nova to the amount thou hast told us of, since thou hast them by thee. But give something, according to thy discretion, to the agent whom thou hast deputed in the same patrimony.
Concerning the handmaiden of God who was with Theodosius, by name Extranea, it seems to
me that thou shouldest give her an allowance, if thou thinkest it
advantageous, or at any rate return to her the donation which she
made. The house of the monastery which Antoninus had taken from
the monastery, giving thirty solidi for it, restore thou without
the least delay, the money being repaid. After thoroughly
investigating the truth restore the onyx phials
Amulas. “Amula, minor ama, vas vinarium, in quo
sacra oblatio continetur.” Du Cange.
If Saturninus is at liberty and not employed with thee, send him to us. Felix, a farmer under the lady Campana, whom she had left free and ordered to be exempt from examination, said that seventy-two solidi had been taken from him by Maximus the sub-deacon, for paying which he asserted that he sold or pledged all the property that he had in Sicily. But the lawyers said that he could not be exempt from examination concerning acts of fraud. However, when he was returning to us from Campania, he perished in a storm. We desire thee to seek out his wife and children, to redeem whatever he had pledged, repay the price of what he had sold, and moreover provide them with some maintenance; seeing that Maximus had sent the man into Sicily and there taken from him what he alleged. Ascertain, therefore, what has been taken from him, and restore it without any delay to his wife and children. Read all these things over carefully, and put aside all that familiar negligence of thine. My writings which I have sent to the peasants cause thou to be read over throughout all the estates, that they may know in what points to defend themselves, under our authority, against acts of wrong; and let either the originals or copies be given them. See that thou observe everything without abatement: for, with regard to what I have written to thee for the observance of justice, I am absolved; and, if thou art negligent, thou art guilty. Consider the terrible Judge who is coming: and let thy conscience now anticipate His advent with fear and trembling, lest it should then fear [not?] without cause, when heaven and earth shall tremble before Him. Thou hast heard what I wish to be done: see that thou do it.
To Peter the Subdeacon.
Gregory to Peter, &c.
The divine precepts admonish us to love our
neighbours as ourselves; and, seeing that we are enjoined to love them
with this charity, how much more ought we to succour them by supplies
to their carnal needs, that we may relieve their distress, if not in
all respects, yet at least with some support. Inasmuch, then, as
we have found that the son of the most worthy Godiscalchus is in
distress, not only from loss of sight, but also from want of food, we
hold it necessary to provide for him as far as possible.
Wherefore we enjoin thy Experience by this present order to supply to
him for sustaining life twenty-four modii of wheat every year,
and also twelve modii of beans and twenty
decimates
“Decimatas vini duas pensantes per unamquamque decimatam
libras 60 (Ap. Anastasium in Hadriano)…mensuræ vinariæ
species videtur.” Du Cange.
Epistle XLVII.
To Virgilius, Bishop of Arelate (Arles) and Theodorus, Bishop of Massilia (Marseilles).
Gregory to Virgilius, Bishop of Arelate, and Theodorus, Bishop of Massilia, in Gaul.
Though the opportunity of a suitable time and suitable persons has failed me so far for writing to your Fraternity and duly returning your salutation, the result has been that I can now at one and the same time acquit myself of what is due to love and fraternal relationship, and also touch on the complaint of certain persons which has reached us, with respect to the way in which the souls of the erring should be saved. Very many, though indeed of the Jewish religion, resident in this province, and from time to time travelling for various matters of business to the regions of Massilia, have apprized us, that many of the Jews settled in those parts have been brought to the font of baptism more by force than by preaching. Now, I consider the intention in such cases to be worthy of praise, and allow that it proceeds from the love of our Lord. But I fear lest this same intention, unless adequate enforcement from Holy Scripture accompany it, should either have no profitable result, or even (which God forbid) the loss of the souls which we wish to save should further ensue. For, when any one is brought to the font of baptism, not by the sweetness of preaching, but by compulsion, he returns to his former superstition, and dies the worse from having been born again. Let, therefore, your Fraternity stir up such men by frequent preaching, to the end that through the sweetness of their teacher they may desire the more to change their old life. For so our purpose is rightly accomplished, and the mind of the convert returns not again to his former vomit. Wherefore discourse must be addressed to them, such as may burn up the thorns of error in them, and illuminate what is dark in them by preaching, so that your Fraternity may through your frequent admonition receive a reward for them, and lead them, so far as God may grant it, to the regeneration of a new life.
Epistle XLVIII.
To Theodorus, Duke of Sardinia.
Gregory to Theodorus, &c.
The justice which you bear in your mind you ought to shew in the light of your deeds. Now Juliana, abbess of the monastery of Saint Vitus which Vitula of venerable memory had once built, has intimated to us that possession of the aforesaid monastery is claimed by Donatus, your official; who, seeing himself to be fortified by your patronage, scorns to have resort to a judicial examination of the case. But now let your Glory enjoin this same official, with the aforesaid hand-maiden of God, to submit the matter to arbitration to the end that whatever may be decided as to the question in dispute by the judgment of the arbitrators may be carried into effect; so that, whatever he may find he has to lose or keep, what he does may not be done as a deed of virtue, but set down to the justice of the law.
Further, Pompeiana, a religious lady, who is known to have established a monastery in her own house, has complained that the mother of her deceased son-in-law wishes to annul his will, to the end that her son’s last disposition of his property may be made of none effect. On this account we hold it necessary with paternal charity to exhort your Glory to lend yourself willingly, with due regard to justice, to pious causes, and kindly order that whatever these persons have a rightful claim to be secured to them. Now, we beseech the Lord to direct the way of your life propitiously, and grant you a prosperous administration of your dignified office.
To Honoratus, Deacon Honoratus was
Gregory’s apocrisiarius at Constantinople.
Gregory to Honoratus, &c.
Since we have undertaken, however undeserving, a place of government, it is our duty to succour our brethren in need, so far as our power extends. Januarius, then, our brother and fellow-bishop of the metropolitan city of Caralis (Cagliari), has been here in the city of Rome, and informed us that the glorious magister militum, Theodorus, who is known to have received the dukedom of the island of Sardinia, is doing many things there contrary to the commands of our most pious lords, whereby with fitting clemency and gentleness they removed many hardships of proprietors, or of citizens of their empire. Wherefore we desire you at a suitable time to represent the case to our most pious lords in accordance with what the provincials of the aforesaid island justly and reasonably demand; seeing that on a previous occasion also their sacred imperial letters were sent to the glorious Magister militum Edancius, who was in the seventh indiction duke of Sardinia, in which they ordered all these present grievances to be redressed, to the end that their commands, proceeding from the bountifulness of their piety, might be observed unshaken by dukes who might come in course of time to be in power, and that the benefit thereof might not be squandered away by administrators; that so a quiet life might be led under the clement empire of our lords, and for the ordinance which with tranquil mind they grant to their subjects they might receive multiplied compensation at the coming of the eternal judge.
Epistle L.
To Anthemius the Subdeacon Anthemius was
Defensor ecclesiæ in Campania.
Gregory to Anthemius, &c.
Even as, through the ordering of God as it hath pleased Him, we have received the place of
government, so ought we to be solicitous for the souls committed to
us. Now we find that in the Eumorphian island An island, as well
as Palmaria mentioned afterwards, near the Campanian coast, and hence
under the care of Anthemius. Alluding to the
Lombards, who at this time were ravaging Italy.
Epistle LII.
To Symmachus the Defensor I.e. of the Church
in Corsica, as appears from the letter.
Gregory to Symmachus, &c.
My son Boniface the deacon has told me that thy Experience had written to say that a monastery built by Labina, a religious lady, is now ready for monks to be settled in it. And indeed I praised thy solicitude; but we wish that some other place than that which has been assigned for the purpose should be provided; but with the condition, in view of the insecurity of the time, that one above the sea be looked out for, which is either fortified by its position, or at all events can be fortified without much labour. So may we send monks thither, to the end that the island itself, hitherto without a monastery, may be improved by having this way of life upon it.
For carrying out and providing for this business we have
given directions to Horosius, the bearer of this present order, with
whom thy Experience must go round the
Moreover we desire that the priests who abide in
Corsica shall be forbidden to have any intercourse with women, except
it may be a mother, or a sister, or a wife, towards whom chastity
should be observed The clergy who
had been married before ordination were not required to put away their
wives. Can. Apostol. V. expressly forbids their doing so under
pain of excommunication. The 3rd Nicene Canon, which forbids any
bishop, presbyter, or any of the clergy, to have a woman dwelling with
him except a mother, or sister, or aunt, or such persons only as are
above suspicion, does not touch the case of wives, being directed
against the custom of the clergy having females who where neither wives
nor of their own kindred, to live with them, who were called
synesactæ, or agapetæ. Accordingly
a law of Honorius and the younger Theodosius, made in pursuance of the
Nicene Canon, adds to the above injunction, “That those who were
married before their husbands were ordained should not be relinquished
upon pretence of chastity, it being reasonable that those should be
joined to the clergy who by their conversation had made their husbands
worthy of the priesthood.” (Cod. Theodor. lib. xvi.
tit. ii. de Episc. l. xliv. Also Cod. Just.
lib. i. tit. iii. leg. xix. See Bingham, Bk.
vi. ch. ii. sect. 13). But in the West it was now the established
rule that neither bishops, priests, nor deacons should have conjugal
intercourse with their wives after ordination: and it has been
seen under Ep. XLIV. how this rule had been extended to
subdeacons. Gregory tells us in his Dialogues (Lib. iv.
cap. 11) of a holy presbyter in the province of Nursia, who at the time
of his ordination had a wife (presbyteram suam), whom he
thenceforth loved as a sister, but avoided as an enemy, never suffering
her to come near him for fear of temptation: and he adds,
“For this is the way of holy men, that in order to keep far away
from what is unlawful they cut themselves off even from what is
lawful.” Cf. IX. 60. “Hoc tantummodo adjecto ut
hi, sicut canonica decrevit auctoritas, uxores quas caste debent regere
non relinquant.”
Epistle LVI.
To Peter, Subdeacon.
Gregory to Peter, &c.
Being exceedingly desirous of observing the festivals of saints, we have thought it needful to address this our letter of direction to thy Experience, informing thee that we have arranged for the dedication with all solemnity, with the help of the Lord, in the month of August, of the Oratory of the Blessed Mary lately built in the cell of brethren where the abbot Marinianus is known to preside, to the end that what we have begun may through the Lord’s operation be completed. But, inasmuch as the poverty of that cell requires that we should assist in that day of festival, we therefore desire thee to give for celebrating the dedication, to be distributed to the poor, ten solidi in gold, thirty amphoræ of wine, two hundred lambs, two orcæ of oil, twelve wethers, and a hundred hens, which may be afterwards charged in thy accounts. Provide therefore for this being done at once without any delay, that our desires, God granting it, may take speedy effect.
Epistle LVII.
To Severus, Bishop.
Gregory to Severus, &c.
We learn from thy Fraternity’s epistle that,
with regard to the choice of a bishop, some are agreed in favour of
Ocleatinus, with whom, since we disallow him, they need not further
concern themselves The vacant See
referred to was that of Ariminum. See following epistle.
Severus, who had been commisioned to act as visitor during the vacancy,
was bishop of Ficulum, or Ficocle in the same province. See V.
25.
Epistle LVIII.
To Arsicinus Duke, the Clergy, Nobility, and Common People (ordini et plebi) of the City of Ariminum.
Gregory to Arsicinus, &c.
How ready is the devotion of your love in expectation of
a pontiff the text of the report which you have addressed to us
shews. But, since the ordainer ought in such cases to be
exceedingly careful, we are watching over this case with due
deliberation. And so we warn your Charity by this present writing
that no
Epistle LXI.
To Gennadius, Patrician and Exarch of Africa.
Gregory to Gennadius, &c.
That you have unceasingly the fear of God before your eyes, and pursue justice, the subdued
necks of enemies testify; but, that the grace of Christ may keep your
Glory in the same prosperity, restrain, as you have been wont, with
speedy prohibition whatever things you discover to be committed
wrongfully, so that, fortified with the arms of justice, you may
overcome hostile attacks with the power of faith, which is the top of
all virtue. Now Marinianus, our brother and fellow-bishop of the
city of Turris Turritana
civitas, a city in Sardinia, called by Pliny (lib. iii. c. 7)
Turris Lybissonis, and by Ptolemy (lib. iii. c. 5) Turris
Byssonis. Commodalibus
dispendiis. The word commodum is used not only for a
stipend, or a present or gratuity, but also for exacted payments,
“Pro quavis pensitatione vel etiam exactione usurpat Gregor.
M.” Du Cange. Religiosos
ecclesiæ. By the terms religiosi and
religiosæ were denoted not only monks, nuns, dedicated
virgins, and clergy, but also other persons devoted to piety and good
works in connection with the Church. Cf. xi. 54, “laico
religioso.” See reff. in Index under
Religiosus. Angariis seu
commodis. Angarium, or angaria, denotes any forced
service imposed on people, either rendered in person or in money
payment. See also V. 8, note 4.
Epistle LXII.
To Januarius, Archbishop of Caralis (Cagliari) in Sardinia.
Gregory to Januarius, &c.
If our Lord Himself by the testimony of Holy Scripture declares Himself to be the husband of widows and father of orphans, we also, the members of His body, ought with the soul’s supreme affection to set ourselves to imitate the head, and saving justice, to stand by orphans and widows if need be. And, having been given to understand that Catella, a religious woman who has a son serving here in the holy Roman Church over which under God we preside, is being troubled by the exactions and molestations of certain persons, we think it needful to exhort your Fraternity by this letter not to refuse (saving justice) to afford your protection to this same woman, knowing that by things of this kind you both make the Lord your debtor and bind us to you the more in the bonds of charity. For we wish the causes of the aforesaid woman, whether now or in future, to be terminated by your judgment, that she may be relieved from the annoyance of legal proceedings, and yet be by no means excused from submitting to a just judgment. Now I pray the Lord to direct your life in a prosperous course towards Himself, and Himself to bring you in His mercy to the kingdom of glory which is to come.
Epistle LXIII.
To Januarius, Bishop of Caralis (Cagliari) in
Sardinia Other letters
addressed to or relating to this bishop, who was an old man of very
unsatisfactory character, are I. 63; II. 49; III. 36; IV. 8, 9, 15, 26,
27, 29; V. 2; IX. 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 25, 65; XIV. 2.
Gregory to Januarius, &c.
Though your Fraternity in the zeal of righteousness
Epistle LXVI.
To Felix, Bishop of Messana (Messene).
Gregory to Felix, &c.
Customs which are found to bring a burden upon
churches it becomes us in our consideration to discontinue, lest any
should be forced to contribute to quarters from which they ought rather
to look for contributions. Accordingly, it is thy duty to
preserve intact the custom of the clergy and others, and to transmit to
them every year what has been accustomed: but for the future we
forbid thee to transmit anything to us. And, since we take no
delight in presents (xeniis) See II. 23, note
8. Probably vestes
palmatæ, i.e. robes interwoven or embroidered with palm
leaves.
Epistle LXVII.
To Peter, Subdeacon.
Gregory to Peter, &c.
If with kind disposition we meet the needs of our neighbours by shewing compassion, we shall undoubtedly find the Lord mercifully inclined to our petitions. Now we have learnt that Pastor, who labours under exceeding weakness of sight, having a wife and two slaves, who also had formerly been with the glorious lady Jonatha, is suffering from great need. Wherefore, we admonish thy Experience, by the writing of this present order, not to delay giving him for his sustenance three hundred modii of wheat, and also as many modii of beans, which may afterwards be charged in thy accounts. So act, then, as both thyself to obtain the benefit of reward for thy good service, and to carry our orders into effect. In the month of August.
Epistle LXXII.
To Peter, Subdeacon.
Gregory to Peter, &c.
Thou hast learnt from a former letter See Ep.
XXXVI. See Ep.
II. If this Epistle is rightly assigned to the ninth Indiction,
the title ex-prætor may possibly be an error in the text
since Justin is still addressed as prætor in the following
Indiction (II. 33). Libertinus appears to have succeeded him as
Prætor of Sicily in the eleventh Indiction. See III. 38. Two of these
bishops, Gregory and Leo, are referred to afterwards as having been at
Rome to answer to certain charges. See II. 33, and III. 12.
Extraneis, i.e. growers or vendors of corn outside the patrimony
of the Church. See I. 44, note
1.
Epistle LXXIV.
To Gennadius, Patrician and Exarch of Africa.
Gregory to Gennadius, &c.
As the Lord hath made
your Excellency to shine with the light of victories in the military
wars of this life, so ought you to pose the enemies of the Church with
all activity of mind and body, to the end that from both kinds of
triumph your reputation may shine forth more and more, when in forensic
wars, too, you firmly resist the adversaries of the Catholic Church in
behalf of the Christian people, and bravely fight ecclesiastical
battles as warriors of the Lord. For it
is known that men heretical in religion, if they have liberty allowed
them to do harm (which God forbid), rise
strenuously against the catholic faith, to the end that they may
transfuse, if they can, the poison of their heresy to the corrupting of
the members of the Christian body. For we have learnt that they
are lifting up their necks against the Catholic Church, the
Lord being opposed to them, and desire to
pervert the faith of the Christian profession. But let your
Eminence suppress their attempts, and subdue their proud necks to the
yoke of rectitude The
heretics (so called, though they were really rather schismatics than
heretics) were the Donatists, who still lingered in Africa in spite of
imperial edicts for their suppression. What Gregory here urges
the Exarch to do is to put in force the existing laws against
them. A series of imperial laws against the Donatists will be
found in Cod. Theod. Bk. xvi. tit. 5, that of Honorius,
a.d. 414, being especially severe. It was the
immemorial custom in the provinces of Africa generally for the senior
bishop of the province according to the date of his consecration to be
appointed primate, instead of the bishop of the civil metropolis being
such in virtue of his See, as was the rule elsewhere. (The
province of Africa proper, or Africa Proconsularis, was however an
exception; for in it the bishop of Carthage was always the
primate.) Hence in Africa the designation Metropolitan was not
used, but that of Primate or Senior (senex). Gregory here,
though allowing the old custom of movable primacies, forbids the
necessary election of the senior bishop: and this in order to guard
against the appointment of unfit persons. His main motive, as
appears from Epistle LXXVI., addressed to the bishops of the province
of Numidia, was to preclude the elevation to the primacy of any bishop
who had once been a Donatist. For in it he allows the retention
of the old African custom in all respects, save only that no bishop who
had been a Donatist was ever to be appointed primate.
Epistle LXXV.
To Gennadius, Patrician, and Exarch throughout Africa.
Gregory to Gennadius, Patrician, &c.
Had not such great success of the military
exploits of your Excellency arisen from the merit of your faith and
from the grace of the Christian religion, it would not have been so
greatly to be wondered at, since we know that the like has been granted
to military leaders of old time. But when, God granting it, you forestall future victories, not by
carnal provision, but rather by prayers, it becomes a matter of
astonishment how your glory comes down upon you,
See I. 77,
note 2.
Epistle LXXVII.
To All the Bishops of Numidia.
Gregory to all the Bishops of Numidia.
If ever, most dear brethren in Christ, a
troublesome mixture of tares intrudes itself among green corn, it is
necessary for the hand of the husbandman to root it up entirely, lest
the future fruit of the fertile corn should be obstructed.
Wherefore let us too, who, however unworthy, have undertaken the
cultivation of the field of the Lord, hasten
to render the corn pure from all offence of tares, that the field of
the Lord may fructify with more abundant
increase. Now you requested through Hilarus our
chartulary
“Chartularius. Qui chartas tractant, qui chartis
deserviunt.…Dignitas ecclesiastica etiam fuit.” Du
Cange. This Hilary is commended to Gennadius the Exarch of
Africa, I. 75, and again mentioned as Gregory’s Chartulary in
Africa, II. 48; X. 37; XII. 28, 29. See I. 74, note
9.
Epistle LXXVIII.
To Leo, Bishop in Corsica.
Gregory to Leo, &c.
Our pastoral charge constrains us to come with
anxious consideration to the succour of a church that is destitute of
the control of a priest
Sacerdotis. The term includes bishops as well as
presbyters, and is used in this and the two following Epistles, as
usually elsewhere by Gregory, to denote the former in distinction from
the latter. The occasion of this and the two following Epistles
will be seen to be as follows. The See of Saona in Corsica had
been for some time vacant. It rested with the clergy and nobles
of the island (see above, Ep. LXXX.), to elect a new bishop; but they
had failed to do so; and consequently Gregory remedied their neglect by
himself filling up the vacancy. His right to do so would not be
questioned there, Corsica as well as Sicily being among the
Suburbicarian provinces which were under the acknowledged patriarchal
jurisdiction of the See of Rome. Meanwhile he also commissioned
Leo, the bishop of a neighbouring See (to whom this letter is
addressed), to make a visitation of the Church of Saona, and exercise
episcopal authority there, till the new bishop should take
possession. There are several other Epistles, not included in
this translation, appointing visitors of various churches.
Epistle LXXIX.
To Martinus, Bishop in Corsica.
Gregory to Martinus, &c.
To those who ask for what is just it behoves us to
lend a kindly ear, to the end both that the petitioners may find the
remedies they hope for, and that the anxious care of a shepherd be not
wanting to the Church. And inasmuch as the church of Tanates, in
which thy Fraternity was formerly adorned with sacerdotal dignity, has
for its sins been so taken possession of and ruined by hostile savagery
that no further hope remains of thy returning thither, we appoint thee,
by authority of these presents, undisputed cardinal priest Cardinal bishops,
presbyters, or deacons, meant formerly such as were regularly
instituted and attached to some particular see, parish, or church,
which constituted their title (titulas). They were then
said to be incardinati, the act of so instituting them being
called incardinatio. Cf. II. 37; XIV. 7.
Epistle LXXX.
To the Clergy and Nobles of Corsica.
Gregory to the Clergy, &c…A
paribus See I, 25, note
8.
Although for a long time it has caused you no
sorrow that the Church of God should be
without a pontiff, yet as for us, we are both compelled by the charge
of the office we bear and bound especially by the charity of our love
for you, to take thought for its government, knowing that in its
supervision lies at the same time advantage to your souls. For,
if the care of a shepherd be wanting to a flock, it easily falls into
the snares of the lier in wait. Accordingly, inasmuch as the
church of Saona has long been deprived of the aid of a priest, we have
held it necessary to constitute Martinus, our brother and
fellow-bishop, cardinal priest of the same See note under Ep.
LXXIX.
Epistle III.
To Velox, Magister Militium.
Gregory to Velox, &c.
We informed your Glory some time ago that soldiers
had been prepared to come to your parts; but, inasmuch as your letter
had signified to us that the enemy were collected and were marching
hitherward, we for this reason have detained them here. But now
it appears to be advantageous that a certain number of soldiers should
be sent to you, whom let thy Glory be careful to admonish and exhort to
be prepared for toil. And, when you find an opportunity, confer
with our glorious sons Maurilius and Vitalianus, and do whatever, with
the help of God, they may appoint you to do
for the advantage of the republic. And, should you ascertain that
the unspeakable Ariulph Ariulph was
the Lombard Duke of Spoletum, one of the principal cities in Italy
occupied by the Lombards. For further reference to him cf. II.
29, 30, 46; IX. 98. He was at this time preparing, and suspected
by Gregory of such intention, for an attack on Rome. Cf.
Prologom. Velox (to whom this letter is addressed), and
Maurilius and Vitalian (alluded to in it, and addressed in Epp.
29, 30), were Roman Generals (magistri militum) in
command of imperial forces: but where they were is not
apparent. From an allusion to Suana (or Soana) as within
reach of the last two they may be supposed to have been somewhere in
Tuscia. Apparently a
familia of slaves belonging to Velox, but at this time with
Maurilius.
[In Colbert. and Paul. diac., Die. V. Kal. Oct. Indict. 10.]
Epistle VI.
To the Neapolitans.
Gregory to the clergy, nobles, gentry, and
commonalty Clero,
nobilibus, ordini et plebi. Ordo seems to denote persons of
official or other rank, above the commonalty, but below the
nobility. In some cases the corresponding address is to clero,
ordini et plebi (as in I. 81; V. 26); in others to clero et
nobilibus only. All such expressions shew that the election
of bishops rested with the members, laity as well as clergy, of each
church, though the bishop of Rome, wherever his jurisdiction extended
reserved to himself the power of approving or disallowing the
election. In the election at Naples, referred to in this Epistle,
there appears to have been a difficulty in arriving at an unanimous
choice. Other Epistles referring to the case are II. 9, 10, 15,
26; III. 35. From the last of these it appears how it was
eventually settled. See especially note 6 under II. 9.
Although the sincere devotion of spiritual sons in
behalf of their mother Church needs no exhortation, nevertheless, it
ought to be stirred up by letter, lest it should suppose itself
slighted. On this account I approach your love with an admonition
of paternal charity, that with many tears and with one accord we may
render thanks to our Redeemer, who has not suffered you to walk along
pathless ways under so perverse a teacher, but has made publicly known
the crimes of your unworthy pastor. For Demetrius, to wit, who
even before had not deserved to be called a bishop, has been found to
be involved in transactions to such an extent and of such a kind that,
if he had received judgment without mercy according to the character of
his deeds, he would undoubtedly have been condemned to a most hard
death by both divine and human laws. But since, being reserved
for penance, he has been deprived of the dignity of the priesthood, we
cannot suffer the Church of God to remain long
without a teacher, since it is laid down by canonical rules that, on
the death or removal of a pastor, the church should not be long
deprived of the priesthood
Sacerdotii; meaning here episcopacy. See I. 78, note
2.
To Maximianus, Bishop of Syracuse Maximianus
had been a monk, and for a time abbot, in Gregory’s monastery of
St. Andrew at Rome, had accompanied him to Constantinople, and been
recommended by him soon after his own accession, and elected Bishop of
Syracuse (Joan. Diac. Vit. S. Greg. ii. 11, 12). He was
highly esteemed by Gregory, and mentioned in his Dialogues as having
been miraculously delivered from shipwreck on his return from
Constantinople to Rome (Dialog. iii. 36. Cf. Hom.
34 in Evang.). His appointment now as delegate of the
Roman See in Sicily would relieve Peter the subdeacon of his temporary
jurisdiction over the ecclesiastics there. Maximianus died in
November, a.d. 594. See V. 17, 22.
It is to be observed that the general authority now given to Maximianus
was granted to him personally, and not permanently to the See of
Syracuse.
Gregory to Maximianus, &c.
We execute more efficiently our heavenly commission, if we share our burdens with our brethren. For this cause we appoint thee, our most reverend brother and fellow-bishop, to have administration over all the churches of Sicily in the name of the Apostolical See, so that whosoever there is reckoned as being in a condition of religion may by our authority be subject to thy Fraternity, to the end that it may not hereafter be necessary for them to make such long sea-voyages in resorting to us for slight causes. But if by any chance there are matters of difficulty which can by no means be settled by the judgment of thy Fraternity, in these only let our judgment be solicited, that so we may occupy ourselves more efficaciously in greater causes, being relieved from the least. And be it understood that we give this delegation of authority, not to thy place, but to thy person, because we have learnt from thy past life what we may presume of thee in thy future conduct.
The month of December, the tenth Indiction.
Epistle IX.
To the Neapolitans.
Gregory to the gentry and commonalty (ordini et plebi) residing at Naples.
The communication you have addressed to us has
made manifest what your opinion is of our brother and fellow-bishop
Paulus He was bishop of
Nepe, which as well as Naples, was in the urbicarian province of
Rome. The filling up of the See of Naples appears to have been a
cause of great anxiety to Gregory, probably because of the party
feeling prevailing in the city. In his first letter to the
Neapolitans (supra, See I. 79, note 5.
Wherefore, most beloved sons, obey ye the aforesaid man, if you truly love him, and with devoted minds meet his wishes in peaceful concurrence, to the end that the affection of your mutual charity may so bind you to each other, that the enemy who flies about you raging may find no way through any of you for creeping in to break up your unanimity. Further, when we shall have perceived the aforesaid bishop offering to God the fruit of souls which we long for, God Himself also approving, we will do afterwards whatever divine inspiration may suggest to our heart, with regard to his person and to your desire.
Epistle X.
To Paulus, Bishop of Naples Though called here
Episcopus Neapolitanus, it is apparent from this and other Epistles
that he was as yet only the episcopal visitor, not the regular, or
cardinal, bishop of Naples.
Gregory to Paulus, &c.
If we administer safely the priestly office which
we have received, without doubt both Divine assistance and the
affection of our spiritual sons will not be wanting to us.
Wherefore let thy Fraternity take care to shew thyself in all things
such that the testimony which the clergy, the nobility, and all the
people together, of the city of Naples bears to thee may be
strengthened by the increase of thy goodness. Thou oughtest,
then, so to bind thyself to continual employment in exhorting the
aforesaid people that the Divine husbandman may store in his garners
the fruit of thy word, which thou shalt have gathered from them by thy
labours. But till such time as we shall be able, God revealing to us His will, to deliberate concerning the
things which our aforesaid sons request us should be done, we grant
leave for clerics to be ordained from the ranks of the laity, and also
for manumissions to be solemnly celebrated before thee in the same
church. Moreover we desire thee to observe without hesitation the
customs of the clerical order and of the presbyters
Epistle XII.
To Castorius, Bishop of Ariminum.
Gregory to Castorius, &c.
The illustrious lady Timothea has intimated to us
by a petitionary notification, as is set forth below, that she has
founded an oratory within the city of Ariminum in a place belonging to
her, which she desires to have consecrated in honour of the holy
cross. And, accordingly, dearest brother, if the said
construction is in the jurisdiction of thy city, and if it is known
that no body has been buried there, then, after reception in the first
place of a legitimate endowment, that is, of two-thirds of her whole
property (excepting slaves), of her movables and fixtures and live
stock, the usufract being reserved to her for her life, and such
endowment having been secured by municipal deeds, thou wilt solemnly
consecrate the aforesaid oratory without any public mass, on the
condition that no baptistery shall be constructed in the same place in
future times, and that thou appoint not a cardinal presbyter See I. 79, note
5. Sanctuaria,
meaning apparently relics, the deposition of which usually accompanied
the consecration of holy places.
Epistle XV.
To Paul, Bishop.
Gregory to Paul, &c.
I appointed thy Fraternity to preside for the
present over the church of Naples, to the end that thou mightest
convert all thou canst to God by persuasive
preaching. And, while thou oughtest to be giving thy whole mind
to this work, thou art in haste to return before bringing forth this
fruit to the Lord, and requestest me to settle
the affairs of this same church speedily, my mind being meanwhile by no
means unoccupied in this matter. But, being desirous of
fortifying securely the well-being of this Church, I hold it needful to
consider the matter with long continued deliberation, so as to be able
to arrange its affairs by the ordination of a worthy whom Christ may
reveal to us. Wherefore let thy Fraternity meanwhile study to
watch for the good of souls, so that the opinion I have of thee may be
strengthened by the effect of thy working. All thou hast written
concerning the deacon Peter has now been made known to us by the
ex-consul Theodorus. And so, now that I know that he is constant
to thee, and, according to thy testimony, studies the advantage of the
Church, he ought to be afraid of no one’s opposition or enmity,
but persevere in benefiting the Church and serving God all the more watchfully as he feels that others have a
grudge against him; that so they may have no power at all to injure
him. Moreover, thy Fraternity ought not hereafter to be suspected
with regard to him; since no surreptitious proceedings will have effect
on me For the occasion of
this letter, see II. 9, note 6.
Epistle XVIII.
To Natalis, Bishop of Salona Salona was the
metropolis of the province of Dalmatia in the diocese of Illyricum
Occidentale, and Natalis, in virtue of his occupancy of the See, the
Ecclesiastical Metropolitan of the province. For Gregory’s
subsequent dealings with this bishop see II. 19, 20, 52; III. 8,
32. For the occasion of this Epistle, see I. 19, note 5.
Gregory to Natalis, &c.
I have learnt, dearest brother, from many who have
come from thy city that, neglecting thy pastoral charge, thou occupiest
thyself wholly in feastings: which report I should not have
believed had not my own experience of thy conduct confirmed it.
For that thou in no wise art intent on reading, in no wise givest
attention to exhortation, but art even ignorant of the very use and
purpose of ecclesiastical order, there is this in evidence, that thou
knowest not how to observe reverence to those who are put over
thee. For, when thou hadst been forbidden in writing by our
predecessor of holy memory to retain in thy heart the soreness of thy
long displeasure against Honoratus thy archdeacon, and when this had
been positively interdicted thee by myself also, thou, disregarding the
commands of God, and setting at naught our
letters, didst attempt by a cunning device to degrade the aforesaid
Honoratus thy archdeacon under colour of promoting him to a higher
dignity. Thus it was contrived that, he being removed from the
post of archdeacon, thou mightest call in another who would have fallen
in with thy manner of life, the aforesaid man having, as I think,
displeased thee for no other cause but that he prevented thee from
giving sacred vessels and vestments to thy relations. Which case
both I now, and my predecessor of holy memory formerly, have wished to
subject to an accurate investigation; but thou, being conscious of what
thou hadst done,
Epistle XIX.
To all the Bishops of Dalmatia.
Gregory to all the bishops constituted throughout Dalmatia.
Though desiring to visit your Fraternity
frequently through the intercourse of letters, yet, when some special
case demands our attention, we wish to take the opportunity of
fulfilling two duties at once, so as both to refresh our brotherly
souls in the way of visitation and to explain accurately matters that
come up for notice, lest ignorance of them should leave the mind
confused. Now when our brother Natalis, bishop of the city of
Salona, wished to advance the archdeacon Honoratus to the order of the
priesthood, who thereupon declined being advanced to a higher order,
the latter demanded my predecessor of holy memory, in a petition that
he sent, that he should not be so advanced against his will. For
he alleged that the thing was attempted, not for the sake of promoting
him, but in consequence of displeasure against him. Thereupon our
predecessor of holy memory addressed letters to Natalis, our brother
and fellow-bishop, interdicting him from promoting the archdeacon
Honoratus against his will, or retaining in his heart the soreness of
the displeasure which he had conceived against him. And when we
too had laid the same interdiction on the said Natalis, he, not only
disregarding the commands of God, but also
setting at naught our letters, attempted, it is said, craftily to
degrade the aforesaid archdeacon, in a way contrary to custom, under
colour of promoting him to a higher dignity. Thus it was
contrived that, having removed him from the archdeaconry, he might call
in another person to minister in the place of the deposed
archdeacon. Now we think that this Honoratus may have fallen
under the displeasure of his bishop on account of having prevented him
from giving sacred vessels to his relations: and both my
predecessor of holy memory formerly and I now have wished to
investigate the case accurately; but he, conscious of what he had done,
has put off sending a representative with a view to its trial, lest the
truth with respect to his doings might appear. We therefore, now
that he has been already so often admonished by letter, and has so far
been pertinaciously obstinate, have taken order for his being
admonished once more in letters sent to him through the bearer of these
presents, to the end that he may, immediately on the arrival of the
bearer of these presents, receive the archdeacon Honoratus into his
former place. And if, with heart still hardened, he should
contumaciously defer restoring him to the said position, we order that
for his contumacy so many times exhibited he be deprived of the use of
the pallium granted to him by this See. But if, even after loss
of the pallium, he should persevere in the same pertinacity, we order
him to be debarred from participation in the body and blood of the
Lord. For it is right that he should
find those severe in justice whom he set at naught when they approached
him in charity. Wherefore neither do we now deviate from the path
of justice, which the aforesaid bishop has despised; but, when he whose
guilt has by no means been made apparent to us has been restored to his
place, we enjoin the bishop Natalis to send to us a person with
instructions, who may be able by his allegations to prove to us the
right intentions of the said bishop. For we have caused also the
said archdeacon to come to us, that, having heard the assertions of
both parties, we may
Epistle XX.
To Antoninus, Subdeacon This Antoninus was
rector patrimonii in Dalmatia (see III. 22), and, though but a
subdeacon, appears to have had the same kind of jurisdiction over the
clergy given him in the pope’s name even in ecclesiastical
matters as had been committed to Peter the subdeacon in Sicily.
(See I. 1.)
Gregory to Antoninus, &c.
Honoratus, archdeacon of the Church of Salona, had demanded from my predecessor of holy memory, in a petition that he sent, that he should by no means be forced by his bishop to be advanced against his will, in a way contrary to custom, to a higher order.
[Here follows an account of the subsequent proceedings, almost word for word the same as that given in Epistle XIX.]
Wherefore we have thought it right to support thy Experience by the authority of this present order, that thou mayest resort to Salona, and at least try by exhortation to induce Natalis, our brother and fellow-bishop, who has been admonished by so many letters, to restore the above-mentioned Honoratus to his place immediately. But if, as has been his wont, he should contumaciously delay doing this, forbid him by authority of the Apostolic See the use of the pallium which has been granted him by this See. But if, even after loss of the pallium, thou shouldest find him persevering in the same pertinacity, thou shalt deprive the said bishop of participation in holy communion. Moreover, him who, against the rule of justice, has consented to be promoted to another man’s place we order to be deposed from the dignity of the same archdeaconry. And, if he should presume to minister further in the same place, we deprive him of participation in holy communion. For it is right that he should find those severe in justice whom he sets at naught when approaching him in charity. Wherefore, when the archdeacon Honoratus has been restored to his place, let the aforesaid bishop, at thy instigation, send to us a person with instructions, who may be able by his allegations to prove to us that the bishop’s intention is or has been just.
[What follows corresponds exactly with the conclusion of Epistle XIX.]
As to our brother and fellow-bishop
Malchus This Malchus was a
bishop in Dalmatia (cf. Lib. 1.
Epistle XXII.
To all the Bishops of Illyricum. This Epistle, as
appears from the following one, was on the occasion of the election of
John to the See of Justiniana Prima in Eastern Illyricum, which, though
annexed by the Emperor Gratian (379) to the Eastern Empire, had
remained under the spiritual control of the Roman See.
Accordingly Pope Damasus had assigned to the bishop of Thessalonica
vicariate jurisdiction under Rome over the new
præfecture: and this arrangement had continued to the
time of Pope Vigilius, when the Emperor Justinian assigned to Achrida,
called by him Justiniana Prima, Metropolitan jurisdiction over the five
provinces of the Dacian civil diocese with the two Pannonias in the
diocese of Illyricum Occidentale (Justin. Novell. cxxxi. c.
iii.). Hence Justiniana Prima became the seat thenceforth of the
ecclesiastical Vicariate also. The election to the See, being a
metropolitan one, appears to have been made in this instance by the
suffragan bishops with the concurrence of the Emperor; after which the
Bishop of Rome was applied to for confirmation. In the case
before us it was readily given, the pallium sent, and the vicariate
jurisdiction renewed. A case will appear below in which such
confirmation was refused, but dispensed with by the Emperor, who
supported the elected bishop against the Pope. See III. 47, note
1.
Gregory to all the bishops, &c.
It both affords us joy for your carefulness, and
makes your Fraternity safe in your own ordination, if the order of
ancient custom is maintained. Since, then, we have learnt from
the letters which you have sent to us through the presbyter Maximianus
and the deacon Andreas that the consent of all of you and the will of
the most serene Prince have concurred in the person of our brother and
fellow-bishop John, we feel great exultation that, under God’s direction, such a one has been advanced to the
office of priesthood Sacerdotii,
meaning here episcopacy. See I. 78, note 1.
To John, Bishop.
Gregory to John, Bishop of Prima Justiniana in Illyricum.
It is clearly a manifest evidence of goodness that
the consent of all should concur in the election of one person.
Since, then, the account which we have received from our brethren and
fellow-bishops declared that you are summoned to the position of
priesthood by the unanimous consent of the whole council and the will
of the most serene Prince, we have rendered thanks with great
exultation to Almighty God our Creator, who
has made your life and actions so commendable in the past as to bring
about (what is exceedingly to your credit) your approving yourself to
the judgment of all. With them we also fully agree with regard to
the person of your Fraternity. And we implore Almighty
God that, as His Grace has chosen your
Charity, so He would keep you in all respects under His
protection. We have sent you the pallium according to custom,
and, renewing our commission, we appoint you to act as vicar of the
Apostolic See, admonishing you that you so shew yourself gentle to your
subjects that they may be provoked to love you rather than to fear
you. And, if perchance any fault of theirs should require notice,
you will be careful so to correct their transgressions as by no means
to discard paternal affection from your mind. Be watchful and
assiduous in the care of the flock committed to you, and strict in the
zeal of discipline, so that the wolf lying in wait may not prevail to
disturb the Lord’s sheepfold, or have
opportunity for deceit, so as to hurt the sheep. Make haste with
full purpose of heart to win souls to our God;
and know that we have received the name of shepherd not for repose, but
for labour. Let us, then, shew forth in our work what our name
denotes. If we weigh with right consideration the prerogative of
the priesthood, it will be to those who are diligent and do their duty
well for honour, but to those who are negligent assuredly for a
burden. For, as this name, in the sight of God, conducts those who labour and are assiduous for the
salvation of souls to eternal glory, so in the case of the idle and
sluggish it tends to punishment. Through our tongue let the
people committed to us learn that there is another life. Let the
teaching of your Fraternity be to them an acceptable spur to urge them
on, and your life an example for imitation. For your
Fraternity’s preaching should disclose to them what to love and
what to fear, and your efficiency in this way should reap the fruit of
eternal retribution. But let your deliberate care especially
constrain you never to attempt to make any unlawful ordinations; but,
whenever any are promoted to the clerical order, or, it may be, to some
higher rank, let them be ordained, not for bribes or entreaties, but
for merit. In no ordination let any consideration, in any way
whatever, surreptitiously reach your Fraternity, lest you should be
entangled (which God forbid) in the snares of
simoniacal heresy. For what shall it profit a man, as the
Truth says, if he shall gain the whole word, and lose his own
soul ( Xenia.
The term denotes, among other kinds of presents, such as were
voluntarily offered to superiors, as by the people of a province to
proconsuls. Those here referred to were such as it was the custom
for bishops to send to the Pope after their ordination or from time to
time. We find other instances of Gregory deprecating such
presents. “The temporal Xenia which you have sent
us, though we are in no need of such, we have nevertheless accepted
with due charity.” (VI. 64, Ad Dominicam episcopum
Carthaginensem.) The word is used also for presents of all
kinds. Cf. e.g. the letter to Ethelbert (XI. 66). Meaning St.
Peter.
Epistle XXVI.
To John, Bishop.
Gregory to John, &c.
Inasmuch as we have enjoined on our brother and
fellow-bishop Paulus the work of the visitation of the Neapolitan
church, therefore let not Fraternity shrink from assuming the
visitation of the Nepesine Church, to the end that, according to the
requirements of the Paschal festivity, whatever the solemnity of divine
service demands may, through thy operation, be in all respects
fulfilled. Until, then, we may be able to consider what should be
done with regard to our aforesaid brother and fellow-bishop, let thy
Fraternity strive to shew thyself so skilful and vigilant in all things
that the absence of the bishop aforesaid may not at all be
felt See II. 9, note
6.
The month of April, the tenth Indiction.
To Rusticiana, Patrician Other letters
addressed to this patrician lady are IV. 46; VIII. 22; XI. 44; XIII.
22. She appears to have been a widow, no husband being alluded
to, who had migrated with her family from Rome to Constantinople (cf.
VIII. 22, and XIII. 22). She is spoken of in subsequent letters
as a person of slender frame and weak health, and subject to
gout. Her family, to whom greetings are always sent, being her
children either by birth or marriage, were Appio and Eusebia, Eudoxius
and Gregoria, the former, and perhaps the latter also, being a married
couple. Strategius also, a son of Appio and Eusebia, apparently a
child, has afterwards greetings sent to him. They had daughters
also, whose names are not given.
Gregory to Rusticiana, &c.
On receiving the epistle of your Excellency I was
relieved by the welcome news of your welfare, hoping that the
Lord in His mercy may protect and direct your
life and doings. But I wondered much why you have turned from
your intention and vow to accomplish a good work in respect of your
meditated journey to the holy places Two years later
(see IV. 46, Indict. XII. i.e. a.d.
593–4) she appears to have made a pilgrimage to Mount
Sinai.
Epistle XXIX.
To Maurilius and Vitalianus Cf. II. 3.
Gregory to Maurilius and Vitalianus, magistris militum.
On receiving your Glory’s letters we gave thanks to God that we were assured of your safety; and we greatly rejoiced at your careful provision; and what you wrote about was at once prepared. But the magnificent Aldio wrote to us after the arrival of your men that Ariulph was already near at hand, and we feared that the soldiers sent to you might fall into his hands. Yet here also, so far as God may give aid, our son the glorious magister militum has prepared himself against him. But, if the enemy himself should advance hither, let your Glory also, as you have been accustomed to do, accomplish what you can in his rear. For we hope in the power of Almighty God, and that of the blessed Peter himself, the Prince of the apostles, on whose anniversary he desires to shed blood, that he may find him also without delay opposed to him.
Epistle XXX.
To Maurilius and Vitalianus.
Gregory to Maurilius and Vitalianus, magistris
militum “Abest
hæc Epist. a plerisque mss.” (Benedict Ed.)
We have entreated your Glory through our son
Vitalianus both by word and letter, charging you to communicate with
him. But on the eleventh day of the month of January In Collect.
Pauli Diac., Junii. (Ibid.) Or Soana, a town in
Tuscia. Perhaps Narnia, in
Umbria.
Sculcas. Sculcæ,
excubiæ; pro exulcæ vocabulo truncato, ut cubiæ
pro excubiæ. Du Cange. In
Colbert. Vet. the date is added, “Die 14 Kal. Jan. Indict.
10.” The dates are evidently uncertain.
Epistle XXXII.
To Peter, Subdeacon of Sicily.
Gregory to Peter, &c.
By information received from Romanus the guardian (defensore) I have learnt that the monastery of handmaidens of God which is on the farm of Monotheus has suffered wrong from our church of Villa Nova with respect to a farm belonging to the latter, which is said to have been leased to the said monastery. If this is so, let thy Experience restore to them the farm, and also the payments from the same farm for the two indictions during which thou hast exacted them. Moreover, since many of the Jews dwell on the estates of the Church, I desire that, if any of them should be willing to become Christians, some little of their dues be remitted to them, to the end that others also, incited by this benefit, may be moved to a like desire.
Cows which are now barren from age, or bulls which
appear to be quite useless, ought to be sold, so that at least some
profit may accrue from their price. But as to the herds of mares
which we keep very unprofitably, I wish them all to be dispersed, and
four hundred only of the younger kept for breeding; which four hundred
ought to be presented to the farmers
Conductores. See I. 44, note 6.
On the arrival of the servant of God, brother Cyriacus, at Rome I questioned him closely as
to whether he had communicated with thee about the receiving of a bribe
in the cause of a certain woman. And the same brother says that
he had learnt the state of the case from thy telling him, for that he
had been commissioned by thee to ascertain who was the person
commissioned to pay the bribe. This I believed, and immediately
received him familiarly into favour, introduced him to the people and
clergy, increased his stipend
Presbyterium. The term, as here used, means apparently a
pecuniary allowance to presbyters. Cf. V. 33, Ad Gaudentiam
Episcopum; “Fraternitatem tuam præsentibus
hortamur affatibus ut clericis Capuanæ Ecclesiæ quartam in
presbyterium eorum de hoc quod ante dictæ ecclesiæ
singulis annis accesserit juxta antiquam consuetudinem distribuere
secundum personarum studeat qualitatem, quatenus aliquod stipendiorum
habentes solatium, ministerium officiumque suum circa eamdem ecclesiam
devotiore mente provocentur impendere.”
I have strongly rebuked Romanus for his levity,
because in the Guest-house (xenodochium) which he kept, as I
have now discovered, he has been taken up more with his own profits
than with [heavenly] rewards. Him, therefore, if it should haply
seem good to thee, leave in thy place. See how thou mayest best
fortify him, by alarming and admonishing him, that he may act kindly
and carefully towards the peasants (rusticos See I. 44, note
1.
Furthermore, I would have thee know that I have no
slight compunctions of mind for having been grievously set against the
servant of God Pretiosus for no grievous fault
of his, and driven him from me, sad and embittered. And I wrote
to the Lord bishop Maximianus (as
appears from Epistle 34), whom Gregory had himself appointed bishop of
Syracuse. Cf. II. 7, and note. This
Eusebius was an abbot in Sicily. Letters follow about him to
Maximianus (Ep. 34), and to him (Ep. 36).
When the recruiting officers
Scribonibus. The term denoted officers sent from the
imperial court into the provinces for executing certain duties; in this
case for raising recruits for the imperial army. Cf. V. 30, note
8. Parum aliquid
xenii. On xenia, see II. 23, note 8.
Now I remember having written before now to say that the legacies, which, according to the representation of Antoninus the guardian (defensoris), are due from us to monasteries or others, were to be paid as had been appointed. And I know not why thy Experience has delayed to accomplish this. Wherefore we desire thee to pay in full our portion of these legacies from the moneys of the church, that when thou comest to me, thou mayest not leave there the groans of the poor against thee. Bring also with thee at the same time the securities which have been found relating to the substance of the same Antoninus.
I have learnt on the information of Romanus that the wife of Redemptus, when dying, directed by word of mouth one silver shell to be sold, and the proceeds given to her freedmen, and also left a silver platter to a certain monastery; in respect of both of which bequests we desire her wishes to be fully carried out, lest from the least things we be betrayed into greater sins.
Further, I have learnt on the information of the
Abbot Marinianus that the building in the Prætorian Monastery is
not yet even half completed: which being the case, what can we
praise for it but thy Experience’s fervour We note here the
sarcastic vein in which Gregory from time to time pleasantly stimulates
Peter to activity.
Moreover, I have learnt that thou knowest certain
things on the farms, even in considerable numbers, to belong to others;
but, owing to the entreaty of certain persons or to timidity, thou art
afraid to restore them to their owners. But, if thou wert truly a
Christian, thou wouldest be afraid of the judgment of God more than of the voices of men. Take notice that
I unceasingly admonish thee on this matter; which if thou neglect to
set right, thou wilt have also my voice for witness against thee.
If thou shouldest find any of the laity fearing God who might receive the tonsure and become agents under
the rector I.e. the rector
patrimonii. The purport of this direction seems be that
agents from the laity might be appointed with advantage to assist the
rector patrimonii; and these must first be made clerici
by receiving the tonsure, so as to be qualified to act for the
Church. The rectors themselves were usually at least
subdeacons.
Concerning the case of the son of Commissus the
scholasticus
Scholastici. The designation appears to have been
applied generally to scholarly and learned persons. Cf. Hieron.
in Catal. Scriptor. Eccles., “Serapion ob
elegantiam ingenii cognomen scholastici meruit.” In
Gregory’s Epistles it seems to denote usually men learned in the
law, who might advise on legal points or sit as assessors. In I.
44 (to Peter the subdeacon) scholastici are spoken of as having
given a legal opinion, Epistle 36 in Bk. IX. is addressed “Severo
scholastico exarchi,” and he is spoken of as one of those
“qui assistant judicibus.” Cf. also IX. 58, 59, for
the employment of “Martinus Scholasticus, vir
eloquentissimus,” in a case of disputed jurisdiction over the
primate of the African province of Bizacia. Such
scholastici were evidently persons of importance. Gregory
addresses them by the title of “Gloria vestra” (IV. 40),
and of “Magnitudo tua” (IX. 58). In IX. 12 he speaks
of the form of prayer which followed the words of institution in the
Canon of the Mass as having been composed by a scholasticus
(precem quam scholasticus composuerat), perhaps using the term
in the general sense of a scholar.
Furthermore, thou has sent me one sorry nag and
five good asses. That nag I cannot ride, he is such a sorry one;
and those good asses I cannot ride, because they are asses. But
we beg that, if you are disposed to content us, you will let us have
something suitable. We desire thee to give to the abbot Eusebius
a hundred solidi of gold, which must certainly be charged in thy
accounts. We have learnt that Sisinnius, who was a judge at
Samnium, is suffering from grievous want in Sicily, to whom we desire
thee to supply twenty decimates See I. 46,
note. See I. 61, note
7.
Præpositi. The word, though used also in a more
general sense, usually denotes the Prior of a monastery, appointed as
the Abbot’s vice-gerent. Episcopi
Laurinensis. If the reading is correct, the See
intended is unknown. Holstein (Annot. in Geograph. Sacra,
p. 21) suggests Carinensem, denoting the Sicilian See of
Carine, or Camarina. I.e. the first
seven books of the Bible.
Epistle XXXIII.
To Justinus, Prætor Now Prætor
of Sicily. Cf. I. 2.
Gregory to Justinus, &c.
The spite of the ancient foe has this way of its
own, that in the case of those whom, through God resisting him, he cannot delude into the perpetration
of evil deeds, he maims their reputation for a time by false
reports. Seeing, then, that a sinister rumour about our brother
and fellow-bishop Leo Bishop of Catana
in Sicily. Cf. I. 72.
Epistle XXXIV.
To Maximianus, Bishop of Syracuse.
Gregory to Maximianus, &c.
I remember to have often admonished you to be by no
means hasty in passing sentence. And lo, I have now learnt that
your Fraternity in a fit of anger has excommunicated the most reverend
abbot Eusebius. Now I am much
Epistle XXXVI.
To the Abbot Eusebius.
Gregory to Eusebius, &c.
Let thy Charity believe me that I have been
greatly saddened for thy sadness, as though I had myself suffered wrong
in thee. But, when I afterwards learnt that, even after the most
reverend Maximianus, our brother and fellow-bishop, had restored thee
to his favour and communion, thy Love would not accept communion from
him, I then knew that what had been done before was just. The
humility of God’s servants ought to
appear in a time of affliction: but those who lift themselves up
against their superiors shew that they scorn to be God’s servants. And, indeed, what he once did
ought not to have been done; but still it ought to have been taken by
thee with all humility: and again, when he restored to thee his
favour, he ought to have been met with thanks. And because it was
not so done by thee, I feel that to us in every way there is cause for
tears. For it is no great thing for us to be humble to those by
whom we are honoured; for even any worldly man would do this: but
we ought especially to be humble to those at whose hands we
suffer. For the Psalmist says, See my humility before mine
enemies (
Epistle XXXVII.
To John, Bishop of Squillacium (Squillace, in Calabria).
Gregory to John, &c.
The care of our pastoral office warns us to
appoint for bereaved churches bishops of their own, who may govern the
Lord’s flock with pastoral
solicitude. Accordingly we have held it necessary to appoint
thee, John, bishop of the civitas Lissitana (Lissus,
hodie, Alessio?), which has been captured by the enemy, to be
cardinal See I. 79, note
5. See as above.
Epistle XLI.
To Castorius, Bishop.
Gregory to Castorius, Bishop of Ariminum (Rimini).
What lamentable supplications have been poured out to us
by Luminosus, abbot of the
[In place of the epistle as above given, the following, with the appended paper on the privileges of monasteries, is found in some Codices.]
Gregory to Castorius, Bishop of Ariminum.
What lamentable supplications Luminosus, abbot of the monastery of Saints Andrew and Thomas, in the city of Ariminum, has poured out to us, appears from the text of the subjoined petition. For from his account we learn that in very many monasteries the monks have suffered many prejudices and annoyances from prelates. It is therefore the duty of thy Fraternity to make provision for their future quiet by a wholesome arrangement, to the end that those who have their conversation therein in God’s service may, His grace assisting them, persevere with minds free from disturbance. But, lest from a custom which ought to be rather amended than continued, any one should presume to cause any kind of annoyance to monks, it is necessary that the things which we have caused to be enumerated below should be so carefully observed by the fraternity of bishops that no possible occasion of introducing disquiet may be found hereafter.
Of the privileges of Monasteries.
We therefore interdict in the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ, and forbid by the authority
of the blessed Peter, Prince of the apostles, in whose stead we preside
over this Roman Church, that any bishop or secular person hereafter
presume in any way to devise occasions of interfering with regard to
the revenues, property, or writings of monasteries, or of the cells or
vills thereto appertaining, or have recourse to any tricks or
exactions: but, if any case should by chance arise as to land
disputed between their churches and any monasteries, and it cannot be
arranged amicably, let it be terminated without intentional delay
before selected abbots and other fathers who fear God, sworn upon the most holy Gospels. Also on the
death of the abbot of any congregation, let no stranger be ordained, or
any but one of the same congregation whom the society of the brethren
shall of its own accord have elected unanimously, and who shall have
been elected without fraud or venality. But, if they cannot find
a suitable person among themselves, let them in like manner elect some
one from some other monastery to be ordained. Nor, when an abbot
has been constituted, let any person whatever on any pretext be put
over him, unless perchance (which God forbid)
crimes be apparent which are shewn to be punishable by the sacred
canons. Likewise the rule is to be observed, that monks must not,
without the consent of the abbot, be removed from monasteries for
constituting other monasteries, or for sacred orders, or for any
clerical office. We also disallow ecclesiastical schedules of the
property of a monastery to be made by bishops. But if,
circumstances requiring it, the abbot of a place should have questions
with other abbots concerning property that has come into possession,
let the matter be terminated also by their counsel or judgment.
On the death also of an abbot let not the bishop on any pretext
intermeddle in the scheduling or taking charge of the property of the
monastery, acquired, or given, or to be acquired. We also
entirely forbid public masses to be celebrated by him in a convent,
lest in the retreats of the servants of God
and their places of refuge any opportunity for a popular concourse be
afforded, or an unwonted entrance of women should ensue, which would be
by no means of advantage to their souls. Nor let him dare to
place his episcopal chair there, or have any power whatever of command,
or of holding any ordination, even the most ordinary, unless he should
be requested to do so by the abbot of the place; that so the monks may
always remain under the
The text here
(“nullis canonicis juris deserviant”) appears to be
corrupt, being unintelligible. The sense of the corresponding
clause in the shorter Epistle has been given in the translation.
Epistle XLII.
To Luminosus, Abbot.
Gregory to Luminosus, abbot of the monastery of Saint Thomas of Ariminum.
We were glad to receive thine own and thy
congregation’s petition, and accede to thy requests, in
accordance with the statutes of the Fathers and with form of law.
For to our brother and fellow-bishop Castorius a letter has been sent
by our order, whereby we have taken away entirely from him and his
successors all power to harm thy monastery; so that neither may he any
longer come among you to be a burden to you, nor schedules be made of
the property of the monastery, nor any public procession Processio
usually denotes the celebration of Mass.
Epistle XLVI.
To John, Bishop.
Gregory to John, Bishop of Ravenna For elucidation of
the circumstances of this Epistle see above, Epistles 3, 29, 30.
That I have not replied to the many letters of
your Blessedness attribute not to sluggishness on my part, but to
weakness, seeing that, on account of my sins, when Ariulph, coming to
the Roman city, killed some and mutilated others, I was affected with
such great sadness as to fall into a colic sickness. But I
wondered much why it was that that well-known care of your Holiness for
me was of no advantage to this city and to my needs. When,
however, your letters reached me, I became aware that you are indeed
taking pains to act, but yet have no one on whom you can bring your
action to bear. I therefore attribute it to my sins that this
man Viz. Romanus
Patricius, mentioned below, the Exarch of Ravenna, and as such
representing the Emperor in Italy. See I. 33, “Ad Romanum
Patricium et Exarchum Italiæ.” Precaria;
apparently subsidies demanded for the support of the invading
army. Precarium (or Precarim), which has various
applications, appears to be capable of this sense. See Du
Cange.
But, as to the case of the bishops of
Istria The Istrian
bishops still held out in refusing to accept the condemnation of
“The Three Chapters” passed in the fifth Œcumenical
Council at the instance of the Emperor Justinian. Gregory, soon
after his accession, had summoned Severus, Bishop of Aquileia and
Metropolitan, with his suffragans, to Rome; and this, as he alleges, by
command of the Emperor, though the latter had now, it appears,
forbidden further proceedings. See I. 16, and note.
If, however, there is any opportunity of
prevailing with him, let your Fraternity work upon him, so that we may
make peace with Ariulph, if to some small extent we may, since the
soldiery have been removed from the city of Rome, as he himself
knows. But the Theodosiacs I.e. the soldiers
of the Theodosian Legion.
With regard to the city of Naples With respect to
Rome Gregory has already complained that the Exarch would neither send
forces for its defence nor allow peace to be made with Ariulph.
So also with regard to Naples, which Gregory understands to be now
threatened by the Lombards. The Exarch, it appears, had been
urgent in insisting that it should hold out against the enemy
(“excellentissimo exarcho instanter imminente”), but
without giving any help for the purpose. What Gregory here says
is that without aid from the Exarch its defence was hopeless. Aragis was the Lombard
duke of Beneventum.
As to what you say to the effect that alms should
be sent to the city of the schismatic Severus which has been
burnt Viz. Aquileia, of
which Severus was bishop and Metropolitan, called here
schismaticus because of his holding out against Rome in the
matter of the Three Chapters. The bribes he is said below to have
sent to Constantinople would be for inducing the Emperor to take his
part against Gregory.
Concerning our brother and fellow-bishop
Natalis See above, See II. 20, note
5.
Epistle XLVII.
To Dominicus, Bishop.
Gregory to Dominicus, Bishop of Carthage The bishop of
Carthage was primate of the province of Africa Proconsularis in virtue
of his See. For the custom with regard to primacy in other
African provinces, see I. 74, note 2. The fact, apparent from
this letter, that Dominicus had deemed sending to Gregory on his
accession the congratulatory letter that had been expected, and
Gregory’s carefulness to assure him, in the course of the
studiously courteous letter, of his desire to respect the ancient
privileges of Churches, may be among the symptoms, otherwise apparent,
of the authoritative claims of the Roman See being still viewed with
some jealousy in the African Church. Cf. in Book VIII. Epistle
33, to the same Dominicus, in which Gregory, in praising his reverence
for the Apostolic See, attributes such reverence to his knowledge of
the origin of the African episcopacy, refraining from asserting in this
case any prerogative of divine right belonging to the See of S.
Peter. Other letters to Dominicus are V. 5; VII. 35; XII. 1.
We have received with the utmost gratification the
letters of your Fraternity, which have reached us somewhat late by the
hands of Donatus and Quodvultdeus, our most reverend brethren and
fellow-bishops, and also Victor the deacon with Agilegius the
notary. And though we thought that we had suffered loss from the
tardiness of their coming, yet we find gain from their more abundant
charity; seeing that from this delay in point of time there appears no
interruption, but rather increase of the love which, by the mercy of
God, through your contemplation of the
priestly office, your practice of reading, and your maturity of age, we
know to be already firmly planted in you. For it would not flow
so largely from you, had it not very many most abundant veins in your
heart. Let us, therefore, most holy brother, hold fast with
unshaken firmness this mother and guard of virtues. Let not the
tongues of the deceitful
Now as to your Fraternity rejoicing with us on our
ordination, it displays to me the affection of most sincere
charity. But I confess that a force of sorrow strikes through my
soul from contemplation of this order of ministry. For heavy is
the weight of priesthood; seeing that it is necessary for a priest,
first to live so as to be an example to others, and then to be on his
guard not to lift up his heart because of the example which he
shews. He should ever be thinking of the ministry of preaching,
considering with most intense fear how that the Lord, when about to depart to receive for Himself a
kingdom, and giving talents to His servants, says, Trade ye till I
come ( In English
Bible, cxxxix. 21.
Further, as to what your Fraternity writes about ecclesiastical privileges, keep to this without any hesitation, since, as we defend our own rights, so we observe those of several churches. Nor do I through partiality grant to any Church whatever more than it deserves, nor do I under the instigation of ambition derogate from any what belongs to it by right; but I desire to honour my brethren in all ways, and study accordingly that each may be advanced in honour, so long as there can be no opposition to it of right on the part of one against the other. Further, I greatly rejoice with you in the manners of your messengers, in whom it has been shewn me how much you love me, in that you have sent to me elect brethren and sons.
Given the tenth of the Kalends of August, tenth indiction.
Epistle XLVIII.
To Columbus, Bishop This Columbus was
one of the bishops in Numidia, who seems to have enjoyed the peculiar
confidence of Gregory, being written to on various questions concerning
the Church there, and charged with seeing to the exercise of discipline
over other bishops, though not himself the primate. He is
addressed (III. 68; VIII. 13) as being himself especially devoted to
the Roman See. Other letters addressed to him are III. 48; IV.
35; VI. 37; VII. 2; VIII. 28; XII. 8; XII. 28.
Gregory to Columbus, &c.
It is known, most dear brother in Christ, that the
ancient enemy, who by cunning persuasion deposed the first man from the
delights of Paradise to this life of care, and in him even then
inflicted the penalty of mortality on the human race, does now with the
same cunning, so as more easily to seize the flock, endeavour to infect
the shepherds of the Lord’s sheep with
infused poisons, and already to claim them as his own by right.
But we, who, though unworthy, have undertaken the government of the
Apostolic See in the stead of Peter the prince of the apostles, are
compelled by the very office of our pontificate to resist the general
enemy by all the efforts in our power. Now the bearers of these
presents, Constantius and Mustellus, have in a petition presented to us
given us to understand, and the deacons of the Church of Pudentiana
constituted in the province of Numidia assert, that Maximianus, prelate
of the same Church, corrupted by a bribe from the Donatists, has by a
new licence allowed a bishop to be made in the place where he lives;
which thing, though previous usage allowed it,
The Donatists had
formerly been allowed their own bishop, tolerated along with the
Catholic ones. This liberty was now disallowed, probably in
accordance with imperial edicts. See I. 74, note 8.
For it is right that one who has sold our Lord Jesus Christ to a heretic for money received, as is said to have been done, should be removed from handling the mysteries of His most holy body and blood. Further, if, apart from this accusation, there is any contest afoot among them, as is contained in the petition of the deacons themselves, with respect to certain wrongs or private transactions, this let thy Fraternity with our aforesaid chartularius fully enquire into with evidence adduced, and decide it according to justice between all the parties.
But, further, we have learnt through the information given us by the bearers of these presents that the heresy of the Donatists is for our sins spreading daily, and that very many, leave being given them through venality, are being baptized a second time by the Donatists. How serious a matter this is, brother, it behoves us with the whole bent of our minds to consider. Lo, the wolf tears the Lord’s flock, no longer stealthily in the night, but in the open light; and we see him advance in the slaughter of the sheep, and with no solicitude, with no darts of words, do we oppose him. What fruits, then, of a multiplied flock shall we shew to the Lord, if even that of which we have undertaken the feeding we see with easy mind mangled by the wild beast? Let us therefore study to inflame our hearts by imitation of earthly shepherds, who often keep watch through winter nights, pinched with showers and frost, lest even one sheep, and perchance not a profitable one, should perish. And, if the prowler should have bitten it with greedy mouth, how do they busy themselves, with what palpitations of heart do they pant, with what cries do they leap forward to rescue the captured sheep, stimulated by the pressing need, lest anything lost through their carelessness should be required of them by the Lord of the flock! Let us then watch, lest anything should perish: and, if anything should by chance have been seized, let us bring it back to the Lord’s flock by the cries of divine discourses, that He who is the Shepherd of shepherds may mercifully vouchsafe to approve us in His judgment as having kept watch over His sheepfold. This also it is needful for you to attend to wisely; that, if there should be any proper petition on the part of the same bishop against the bearers of these presents, it should be thoroughly enquired into; and, if haply they themselves also should rightly deserve to be smitten for their own fault, we pronounce that they should by no means be spared on the ground of their having had the toil of resorting to us.
In the month of August, tenth indiction.
Epistle XLIX.
To Januarius, Archbishop.
Gregory to Januarius, archbishop of Caralis (Cagliari).
If with integrity of heart we consider the priestly office which we administer, the concord of personal charity ought so to unite us with our sons that, as we are fathers in name, so we should be proved by our affection to be so in deed. While, then, we ought to be such as has been said above, we wonder why such a mass of complaints has arisen against thy Fraternity. We still indeed hesitate to believe it: but, that we may be able to ascertain the truth, we have sent to your parts John the notary of our See, supported by our injunction, who may compel all parties to abide the judgment of chosen arbitrators, and by his own execution carry their judgments into effect. Wherefore we exhort thy Fraternity by this present writing to consider well with thyself beforehand the merits of the cases; and, if you find that you have taken or hold anything unjustly, in consideration of your priesthood to restore it before trial.
Now, among numerous complaints, the most distinguished
Isidore has complained of having been excommunicated and anathematised
by thy Fraternity for invalid reasons. And, when we had wished to
learn from one of thy clergy who was here for what cause this had been
done, he gave us to understand that it had been done for no other cause
than that the man had done thee an injury. This distresses us
exceedingly; since, if it is so, thou shewest that thou dost not think
of heavenly things, but givest signs of having thy conversation among
things of earth, having brought to bear
Epistle LI.
To All Bishops.
Gregory to all bishops in the matter of the Three
Chapters This letter, being
in reply to one from the bishops addressed who are spoken of as being
at the time schismatics, cannot have been meant for the universal
episcopate. They were probably those of Istria or elsewhere, who
were out of communion with Rome because of their refusal to accept the
condemnation of the “Three Chapters” by the fifth
Council. See I. 16, note 3: IV. 1, 2, 3, 4, 38, 39.
I have received your letters with the utmost
gratification: but I shall have far abundant joy, if it should be
my lot to rejoice in your return from error. Now the forefront of
your Epistle notifies that you suffer severe persecution. But
persecution, if endured irrationally, is of no profit at all unto
salvation. For it is impious in any one to expect a recompense of
reward for sin. For you ought to know, as the blessed Cyprian
says, that it is not the suffering that makes the martyr, but the cause
for which he suffers. This being so, it is exceedingly
incongruous for you to glory in the persecution whereof you speak,
seeing that you are not thereby at all advanced towards eternal
rewards. Let, then, purity of faith bring your Charity back to
your mother church who bare you; let no bent of your mind dissociate
you from the unity of concord; let no persuasion deter you from seeking
again the right way. For in the synod which dealt with the three
chapters it is distinctly evident that nothing pertaining to faith was
subverted, or in the least degree changed; but, as you know, the
proceedings had reference only to certain individuals; one of whom,
whose writings evidently deviated from the rectitude of the Catholic
Faith, was not unjustly condemned I.e. Theodorus of
Mopsuestia, whose person, and not his writings only, was anathematized
in the fifth Council. The sentence was; “Prædicta tria
capitula anathematizamus, id est, Theodorum Mopsuestenum cum nefandis
ejus scriptis, et quæ impie Theodoritus conscripsit, et impiam
epistolam quæ dicitur Ibæ, et defensores eorum.”
Moreover, as to what you write about Italy among
other provinces having been especially scourged since that time, you
ought not to twist this into a reproach, since it is written, Whom
the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth
every son whom he receiveth (
After the Pope Vigilius of illustrious memory,
having been appointed in the royal city Vigilius,
having gone to Constantinople with pope Agapetus, who died there, was
selected by the Empress Theodora as his successor, and sent back to
Italy with an order from her to Belisarius to bring about his election
(Liberatus, Breviar. c. 22). Gregory seems to have been
unaware of the fact stated by Liberatus, namely that Vigilius had come
to a secret understanding with the Empress that he would support the
Monophysite party and disallow the Council of Chalcedon, as there is
good evidence that he did after his accession. It is true that he
afterwards declared for orthodoxy, and condemned all abettors of the
Eutychian heresy. But this appears to have been not till
a.d. 540, in reply to a letter received from
the Emperor Justinian and therefore subsequent to the occupation of
Rome by the Gothic King Theodatus, which was in 536, and to its siege
by Vitiges, who retired in 538. Thus what Gregory goes on to say
about Rome having been attacked and captured by enemies after the
condemnation of heresy by Vigilius must be due to serious ignorance of
the facts of the case. Nor does he appear to have known—at
any rate he does not intimate—that the condemnation of the Three
Chapters, pressed upon the fifth Council by the Emperor Justinian, had
been in spite of the opposition of Vigilius, though it is true that
this sorry pope did afterwards assent to it. The
Monophysites—or some of them—had come to be so called, as
being without a head, after their leader, Peter Mongus, had accepted
the See of Alexandria on the doctrinal basis of Zeno’s
Henoticon. Pelagius I., who
succeeded Vigilius, though he had formerly with him opposed the
condemnation of the Three Chapters, upheld it after his accession to
the popedom. The “book” sent by Gregory to the
bishops may have been the Epistle given as Ep. VII., among those
attributed to Pelagius, addressed to Helias and the bishops of
Istria.
Epistle LII.
To Natalis, Bishop See I. 19,
note 5, with reff.
Gregory to Natalis, Bishop of Salona.
As though forgetting the tenour of former letters, I had determined to say nothing to your Blessedness but what should savour of sweetness: but, now that in your epistle you have recurred in the way of argumentation to preceding letters, I am once more compelled to say perhaps some things that I had rather not have said.
For in defence of feasts your Fraternity mentions the
feast of Abraham, in which by the testimony of Holy Scripture he is
said to have entertained three angels (
Take, therefore, these things to yourselves; and, if you know yourselves to be such as I have said, you need not at all doubt of our esteem. I also find your Blessedness rejoicing if you bear the name of “a gluttonous man” along with the world’s Creator. As to this I briefly comment thus; that, if you are called so falsely, you do truly bear this name along with the world’s Creator; but, if it is true of you, who can doubt that it was false of Him? A like name does not avail to acquit you, if the cause for it is unlike. For even the thief who was condemned to die endured the cross with Him; but a like crucifixion did not acquit him whom his own guilt bound. But now I beseech God with all the prayers I can offer that not the name only, but the cause for it, may join your most holy Fraternity to our Creator.
Further, your Holiness in your letters rightly praises feasts which are made with the intention of bestowing charity. But yet you should know that they then truly proceed from charity, when at them the lives of the absent are not backbitten, no one is censured in derision, and no idle tales about secular affairs, but the words of sacred reading, are heard; when the body is not pampered more than is needful, but only its weakness refreshed, that it may be kept in health for the practice of virtue. If, then, you thus conduct yourselves in your feasts, I own that you are masters of abstinence.
As to your alleging to me the testimony of the
apostle Paul, where he says, Let not him that eateth not judge him
that eateth (
But as to what you say, most sweet brother, about your
being unable to read because of the pressure of tribulations upon you,
I think this avails little for your excuse, since Paul
Now, I rejoice exceedingly that you declare in your letter that you are giving attention to exhortation. For thus I know that you are wisely fulfilling the duties of your position, if you take pains to draw others also to your Maker. But your saying in the same sentence that you are not like me saddens me at once, after I had begun to rejoice, since I think that it is in derision that you give me praises which in truth I do not recognize as due. However, I give thanks to Almighty God that through you heretics are being recalled to holy Church. But it is needful for you to have a care that those also who are contained in the bosom of holy Church live so that they be not her adversaries through their evil lives. For, if they give themselves not to heavenly desires, but to earthly lusts and pleasures, sons of strangers are being nourished in her bosom.
Now as to your declaring that you cannot possibly be ignorant of the degrees of ecclesiastical rank, I too fully know them with regard to you; and I am therefore much distressed that, if you knew the order of things, you have failed, to your greater blame, in knowing it with regard to me. For, after letters had been addressed to your Blessedness by my predecessor and myself in the cause of the archdeacon Honoratus, then, the sentence of both of us being set at nought, the said Honoratus was deprived of the rank belonging to him. Which thing if any one of the four patriarchs had done, such great contumacy could by no means have been allowed to pass without the most grievous offence. Nevertheless, now that your Fraternity has returned to your proper position, I do not bear in mind the wrong done either to myself or to my predecessor.
But as to your saying that what has been handed down and guarded by my predecessors ought to be observed in our times also, far be it from me to infringe in any church the statutes of our ancestors with regard to my fellow priests, since I do myself an injury if I disturb the rights of my brethren. But when your accredited messengers arrive, I shall know the rights of the case between you and the aforesaid archdeacon Honoratus; and my own personal examination of it will shew you that, if you have the support of justice on your side, you will sustain no injury from me; as indeed you never have done. But in case justice supports the plea of the often-before-named Honoratus, I will shew by my acquittal of him that in judgment I have no knowledge even of persons whom I knew.
Concerning the article of excommunication which,
if I may say so, was of necessity added to our letters (though even the
second and the third time with a condition interposed), your
Blessedness complains unreasonably, since the apostle Paul says,
Having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience
(
Epistle LIV.
Here follows the Epistle of Saint Licinianus, bishop,
concerning the Book of Rules, addressed to Saint Gregory, pope of the
city of Rome Licinianus was
bishop of Carthagena in Spain, a Latin ecclesiastical writer.
Isidore (Lib. de illustribus Ecclesiæ scriptoribus, c. 29)
says of him, “In scripturis doctus, cujus quidem nonnullas
epistolas legimus. De sacramento denique baptismatis unam, et ad
Eutropium abbatem postea Valentiæ episcopum plurimas; reliqua vero
industriæ et laboris ejus ad nostram notitiam minime
pervenerunt. Claruit temporibus Mauricii Augusti; occubuit
Constantinopoli veneno ut ferunt, extinctus ab æmulis Sed, ut
scriptum est, Justus quacunque morte præoccupatus fuerit, anima
ejus in refrigerio est.” The “Book of
Rules” which he had received, was Gregory’s Regula
Pastoralis.
To the most blessed Lord pope Gregory, Licinianus, bishop.
The Book of Rules issued by Thy Holiness, and by the aid
of divine grace conveyed to us, we have read with all the more pleasure
for the spiritual rules which we find contained in it. Who can
fail to read that with pleasure wherein by constant meditation he may
find medicine for his soul; wherein, despising the fleeting things of
this world which vary in their mutability, he may open the eyes of his
soul to the settled estate of eternal life? This
This and the
succeeding quotations from the works of the Fathers are inaccurately
given, and in places hardly intelligible. Where this is so, the
original passages have been followed in the translations.
Saint Gregory attests, whose style thou followest, and after whose example thou didst desire to hide thyself in order to avoid the weight of priesthood; which weight, of what sort it is, is clearly declared in the whole of thy book: and yet thou bearest what thou wast afraid of. For thy burden is borne upwards, not downwards; not so as to sink thee to the depths, but to lift thee to the stars; whilst by the grace of God, and the merit of obedience, and the efficiency of good work, that is made sweet which seemed to have heaviness through human weakness. For thou sayest the things that are in agreement with the apostles and with apostolic men. For, being fair, thou hast said things fair, and in them hast shewn thyself fair. I would not have thee liken thyself to an ill-favoured painter painting fair things, seeing that spiritual teaching issues from a spiritual soul. The human painter is by most men esteemed more highly than the inanimate picture. But put not this down to flattery or adulation, but to truth: for it neither becomes me to lie, nor thee to commend what is false. I then, though plainly sincere, have seen thee and all that is thine to be fair, and have seen myself as ill-favoured enough in comparison with thee. Wherefore I thee pray by the grace of God which abounds in thee that thou reject not my prayer, but willingly teach me what I confess myself ignorant of. For we are compelled of necessity to do what thou teachest.
For, when there is no skilled person found for the
sacerdotal office, what is to be done but that an unskilled one such as
I am, should be ordained? Thou orderest that no unskilled one
should be ordained. But let thy prudence
A few years ago Leander, Bishop of Hispalis, on
his return from the royal city, saw us in passing, and told us that he
had some homilies issued by your Blessedness on the Book of Job.
And, as he passed by in haste, he did not shew them to us as we
requested. But thou wrotest afterwards to him about trine
immersion, and saidest in thy letter, as I am told, that thou wast
dissatisfied with that work, and hadst determined on maturer
consideration to change those homilies into the form of a
treatise See I. 43.
We have indeed six books of Saint Hilary, Bishop of Pictavia, which he turned into Latin from the Greek of Origen: but he has not expounded the whole of the book of holy Job in order. And I am not a little surprised that a man so very learned and so holy should translate the silly tales of Origen about the stars. I, most holy father, can in no wise be persuaded to believe that the heavenly luminaries are rational spirits, Holy Scripture not declaring them to have been made either along with angels or along with men. Let then your Blessedness deign to transmit to my littleness not only this work, but also the other books on morals which in this Book of Rules thou speakest of having composed. For we are thine, and are delighted to read what is thine. For to me it is a desirable and glorious thing, as thy Gregory says, to learn even to extreme old age. May God the Holy Trinity vouchsafe to preserve your crown unharmed for instructing His Church, as we hope, most blessed father.
Epistle I.
To Peter, Subdeacon.
Gregory to Peter, Subdeacon of Campania.
What a crime has been committed in the Lucullan
fort against our brother and fellow-bishop Paul The
Castellum, or Castrum, Lucullanum was a small island
adjoining Naples. Respecting Paul, bishop of Nepe, who had been
sent as visitor to the See of Naples during a vacancy, and his
difficulties there, cf. II. 9, 10, 15; III. 35.
Moreover, for the rest, if any slaves from the city should have taken refuge in the monastery of Saint Severinus, or in any other church of this same fort, as soon as this has come to thy knowledge, by no means allow them to remain there, but let them be brought to the church within the city; and, if they should have just cause of complaint against their masters, they must needs leave the church with suitable arrangements made for them. But, if they should have committed any venial fault, let them be restored without delay to their masters, the latter having taken oath to pardon them.
Epistle II.
To Paulus, Bishop See preceding
Epistle.
Gregory to Paulus, &c.
Although it has distressed us in no slight degree to
hear of the injury that thou hast suffered, yet we have matter of
consolation in learning that the affair is to thy credit, in that, so
far as the account sent to us has disclosed the facts, thou hast
suffered in the cause of uprightness and equity. Wherefore, that
it may redound to the greater glory of thy Fraternity, this occurrence
ought neither to shake thy constancy nor turn thee aside from the way
of truth. For it is to the greater reward of priests if they
continue in the path of truth even after injuries. But, lest the
madness of such great impiety should remain unpunished, and pernicious
insubordination break out to a worse degree, we have enjoined the
magnificent Scholasticus, judge of Campania, who is at present here,
that he should avenge what has been done with the repression it
deserves. But, inasmuch as thy men have requested us to
commission some one to represent ourselves, know that we have for this
reason sent to Naples the subdeacon Epiphanius, who may
Epistle III.
To John, Abbot Probably John,
abbot of the monastery of St. Lucia in Syracuse, referred to as engaged
in a dispute about property in VII. 39.
Gregory to John, &c.
Thy Love has requested me that brother Boniface
might be ordained Prior (præpositus) See II. 32, note
5.
With regard to the tunic of Saint John This tunic is
referred to by John the Deacon (Vit. S. Greg. iii. 57, 59), and
supposed by him to have been that of St. John the Evangelist, and
identical with one of the vestments afterwards preserved under the
altar of St. John in the Basilica Constantiniana at Rome,
fragments of which he says were given away as relics, and possessed of
miraculous virtue.
But do thou give thy whole attention to the souls of the brethren. Let it be now enough that the reputation of the monastery has been stained through your negligence. Do not often go abroad. Appoint an agent for these causes, and do thou leave thyself time for reading and prayer.
Be attentive to hospitality; as far as thou art able, give to the poor; yet so as to keep what ought to be restored to Florianus. Moreover, among the brethren of thy monastery whom I see I do not find addiction to reading. Wherefore you must needs consider how great a sin it is, that God should have sent you alimony from the offerings of others, and you should neglect learning the commandments of God.
Further, with regard to the six twelfths, unless we see the original deed, or a copy of it, we can do nothing. But I have sent an order to the servant of God, Florentinus, that, if the truth should be made apparent to him, he restore to you the six twelfths; after the restoration of which we will either grant the remaining six twelfths on lease or commute the revenue.
Epistle V.
To Peter, Subdeacon.
Gregory to Peter, Subdeacon of Campania.
As we have no wish to disturb the privileges of laymen in their judgments, so, when they judge wrongfully, we desire thee to resist them with moderate authority. For to restrain violent laymen is not to act against the laws, but to support law. Since then Deusdedit, the son-in-law of Felix of Orticellum, is said to have done violent wrong to the bearer of these presents, and still unlawfully to detain her property, in such sort that the dejection of her widowhood is found not to move his compassion, but to confirm his malice, we charge thy Experience that against the aforesaid man, as well as in other cases wherein the aforesaid woman asserts that she suffers prejudice, thou afford her the succour of thy protection, and not allow her to be oppressed by any one whatever, lest either thou be found to neglect what without prejudice to equity is commanded thee, or widows and other poor persons, finding no help where they are, be put to expense by the length of the journey hither.
Epistle VI.
To John, Bishop.
Gregory to John, bishop of Prima
Justiniana As to the
See of Prima Justiniana, the Metropolitan jurisdiction assigned to it
by the Emperor Justinian, and the vicariate jurisdiction that had been
transferred to it from Thessalonica by the popes, see note on
Lib. II., Ep. 22. The circumstances referred to in
this and the following letter are interesting as shewing, among other
things, the relations of the See of Rome to the Church in Illyricum,
and the action of the Emperors with regard to it. They may be
epitomized as follows. Thebæ Phthioticæ was a See in
the province of Thessalia, of which Larissa was the Metropolis.
But, as appears from what Gregory says in Epistle VII., Thebæ had
been for some reason exempted from the metropolitan jurisdiction of the
bishop of Larissa by pope Pelagius II. John and Cosmas, two
deposed deacons of the Church of Thebæ, had sent a representation
to the Emperor, accusing their bishop, Adrian, of defalcations in money
matters, and also of certain misdemeanours; the latter being that he
had retained in office one of his deacons, Stephen, whose shameful life
was notorious, and that he had ordered baptism to be refused to certain
infants, who had consequently died unbaptized. The Emperor
(Mauricius) referred the matter to John, bishop of Larissa, as
Metropolitan of Thessalia, who, notwithstanding the exemption of
Thebæ from his jurisdiction by pope Pelagius II., took it up, and
decided against Adrian, at any rate with respect to his alleged
pecuniary defalcations. Adrian appealed against this decision to
the Emperor, who thereupon deputed certain persons (not bishops) to
enquire and report, and, on receiving their report, exempted Adrian
from further proceedings, sending an order to that effect to the Bishop
of Corinth, who was Metropolitan of the adjoining province of
Achaia. Meanwhile John of Larissa had imprisoned Adrian, and
elicited from him (under compulsion, it was said) an ambiguous
confession of his guilt, and also obtained from the Emperor a second
order committing the reinvestigation and final adjudication of the case
to John, bishop of Prima Justiniana, who confirmed the sentence of John
of Larissa, and deposed Adrian from his See. Adrian now at last
appealed to the pope, and went himself to Rome to seek aid from
Gregory, who took up the case at once and strenuously declared the past
proceedings unfair, uncanonical, and void, ordered the immediate
restoration of Adrian to his See, excommunicated John of Prima
Justiniana, and forbade John of Larissa, under pain of excommunication,
to assume hereafter any metropolitan jurisdiction over the church of
Thebæ. Now it is plain that, till Adrian’s final
appeal, no recourse was had by any of the parties concerned to the See
of Rome, and that the Emperor, who alone was at first appealed to, took
the matter up on his own authority without reference to Rome: nor
was it till he had failed of redress from Constantinople that Adrian
himself appealed to Gregory. But it is equally evident that
Gregory, when appealed to, asserted his own plenary jurisdiction as
matter of course and without hesitation: nor is there any
evidence to shew that his assertion of authority was resisted either by
the Illyrican prelates or the Emperor. It was probably a case in
which the Emperor himself took little interest; and he might be glad
that the pope should take it out of his hands and settle it. It
was otherwise, however, in a subsequent case (though occurring not in
Eastern, but in Western Illyricum), in which Gregory was at issue with
the Emperor with respect to the appointment of a bishop to the See of
Salona, as will be seen hereafter. See III. 47, note
2.
Otherwise he
could not have been examined by scourging, as it appears he was.
For clerics were by law exempt from the question.
But as regards the present, by the authority of
the blessed Peter, Prince of the apostles, we decree that, the decrees
of thy judgment being first annulled and made of none effect, thou be
deprived of holy communion for the space of thirty days, so as to
implore pardon of our God for so great
transgression with the utmost penitence and tears. But, if we
should come to know that thou hast been remiss in carrying out this our
sentence, know thou that not the injustice only, but also the
Epistle VII.
To John, Bishop.
Gregory to John, bishop of Larissa.
Our brother Adrian, bishop of the city of
Thebæ, has come to Rome, bitterly complaining of having been
condemned, neither lawfully nor canonically, on certain charges by thy
Fraternity, and also by John, bishop of Prima Justiniana. And,
when for a long time we saw no representative of the opposite party
arrive here who might have replied to his objections, we delivered for
perusal “Relegenda
tradidimus,” not “relegimus;” presumably because, the
Acts being drawn up in Greek, Gregory was unable to read them
himself.
They, in their commands sent to thee, desired thee (that is with strict observance of law and canons) to take cognizance of the matter so as to pass a sentence firm in law as to the pecuniary questions, but, as to the criminal charges, to report to their Clemency after a searching examination. Now if thy Fraternity had received in a right frame of mind these such right commands, you would never have accepted for a general accusation of their bishop men removed from their own office for their transgressions, and already hostilely disposed; especially as by their representation addressed to our most pious lords their untruthfulness is detected, in that they declared that they made it with the consent of all the clergy.
Yet after this, to touch briefly and summarily on some of the proceedings before thee, the first head of accusation was concerning the Theban deacon Stephen, whom the bishop Adrian had failed to deprive of the dignity of his order, though supposed to have been aware of his most shameful life. As to this head, no witnesses were produced to show that bishop Adrian had any knowledge of the matter, except that Stephen alone, a man of shameful life and on his own confession to be condemned, is alleged to have said so. The second charge made against him appears to have been concerning infants having been debarred by his order from receiving holy baptism, and so having died with the filth of sin unwashed away. But none of the witnesses brought forward against him declared their knowledge of anything of the kind having come under the notice of bishop Adrian, but said that they had learnt it from the mothers of the infants, whose husbands, it is said, had been removed from the church for their crimes. But even so they did not declare that the hour of death had overtaken those infants while unbaptized, as was contained in the invidious representation of the accusers, it being evident that they had been baptized in the city of Demetrias. So much then for the criminal charges.
But, as to the pecuniary matters, after what
manner they were adjudged by thee is attested by the enquiry of the men
deputed by the prince in pursuance of the most pious order of the most
serene princes The Emperor
Mauricius had associated his son Theodosius, being four years of age,
with himself in the empire. Hence “princibus.” See I. 39,
note.
Since then, having been deposed also by the above-said John bishop of Prima Justiniana in contravention of law and canons, he could not be left deprived of his rank and honour, we have decreed that he be reinstated in his church, and recalled to the order of his proper dignity. And, though thou oughtest to have been deprived of the communion of the Lord’s body, for that, setting at naught the admonition of my predecessor of holy memory, whereby he exempted him and his church from the jurisdiction of thy authority, thou hast again presumed to retain some jurisdiction over them, yet we, decreeing more humanely, and still allowing thee the sacrament of communion, decree that thy Fraternity shall abstain from all exercise of the jurisdiction formerly held by thee over him and his church; but that, according to the written instructions of our predecessor, if any case should possibly arise, whether touching the faith, or criminal, or pecuniary, against the aforesaid Adrian our fellow-priest, it be either taken cognizance of, if the question be a slight one, by those who are or may be our representatives in the royal city, or, if it be an arduous one, it be brought hither to the Apostolic See, to the end that it may be heard and decided before ourselves. But, if thou shouldest attempt at any time, on any pretext or by any surreptitious device, to contravene these our ordinances, know that we decree thee to be deprived of holy communion, and not to partake of it except at the close of thy life, unless upon leave granted by the Roman pontiff. For this we lay down as a rule, agreeably to the teaching of the holy fathers, that whosoever knows not how to obey the holy canons, neither is he worthy to minister or receive the communion at the holy altars. Moreover let thy Fraternity restore to him without any delay the sacred property, or any other, movable or immovable, which thou art said to retain so far; a specification whereof, that has been handed to us, we append to this letter. Concerning which if any question arises between you, we desire it to be considered by our representative in the royal city.
Epistle VIII.
To Natalis, Archbishop.
Gregory to Natalis, archbishop of Salona Natalis was
Metropolitan of the province of Dalmatia. See note II. 18, note
3.
Whilst every kind of business demands I.e. episcopal
rank. Here, as below in this Epistle and elsewhere, by
sacerdotes are meant bishops.
Epistle IX.
To Antoninus, Subdeacon I.e. of
Dalmatia. The case referred to in this and the preceding letter
is interesting as illustrating canonical procedure against incriminated
bishops. Natalis as Metropolitan, had entertained a charge
against one of his suffragans and pronounced judgment against him on
his own authority. Gregory insists that he had no right to do so
except in a synod of bishops. It appears that Natalis (as to
whose character and relations to Gregory, see II. 18, and reff.
in note), paid no regard in this instance to the pope’s
remonstrances, and the latter found no means of enforcing his
orders. For, in a letter written five years later (a.d. 597), long after the death of Natalis, we find
Gregory writing, “The inhabitants of the city of Epidaurus have
most urgently demanded that Florentius, who they say is their bishop,
should be restored to them by us, asserting that he had been driven
into exile invalidly by the mere will of the bishop
Natalis.” (Lib. viii. Indict. i. Ep.
11).
Gregory to Antoninus, &c.
It has come to our ears that Florentius, bishop of the city of Epidaurus, his property having first been seized, has been condemned, for certain crimes not proved, without a sacerdotal council. And, inasmuch as he ought not to suffer canonical punishment, no canonical sentence having been pronounced for his condemnation, we enjoin thy Experience to urge upon our brother and fellow-bishop Natalis that he should cause the aforesaid man to be recalled from the banishment into which he is said to have been driven. And a council of bishops having been assembled, if the charges brought against him should be canonically proved, we will that the sentence of our aforesaid brother and fellow-bishop Natalis shall take effect against him. But, should he be absolved by a general judgment, thou must not permit him to be subject to prejudice on the part of any one, and must carefully and rigorously insist on his aforesaid property being restored to him. It is therefore needful that the heavier thou feelest the burden of such negotiations to be, with the maturer and more vigilant execution thou take pains to fulfil them.
Epistle X.
To Savinus, Subdeacon It does not
appear who this Savinus was. The Epistle refers to the
condemnation of the Three Chapters by the fifth General
Council. See Proleg. p. xi.
Gregory to Savinus, &c.
Bad men have gone forth and disturbed your minds, understanding neither what they say nor whereof they affirm, pretending that in the times of Justinian of pious memory something was detracted from the faith of the holy synod of Chalcedon, which with all faith and all devotion we venerate. And in like manner all the four synods of the holy universal Church we receive as we do the four books of the holy Gospel. But concerning the persons with respect to whom something had been done after the close of the synod, there was something ventilated in the times of Justinian of pious memory: yet so that neither was the faith in any respect violated, nor anything else done with regard to these same persons but what had been determined at the same holy synod of Chalcedon. Moreover, we anathematize any one who presumes to detract anything from the definition of the faith which was promulgated in the said synod, or, as though by amending it, to change its meaning: but, as it was there promulged, so in all respects we guard it. Thee, therefore, most dear son, it becomes to return to the unity of Holy Church, that thou mayest end thy days in peace; lest the malignant spirit, who cannot prevail against thee through thy other works, may from this cause find a way at the day of thy departure of barring thy entrance into the heavenly Kingdom.
Epistle XII.
To Maximianus, Bishop.
Gregory to Maximianus, bishop of Syracuse
I wrote some time ago to your Fraternity desiring
you to send to the Roman city those who had alleged anything against
Gregory, bishop of the city of Agrigentum Cf. I. 72.
Epistle XV.
To Scholasticus, Judge.
Gregory to Scholasticus, judge of Campania.
While we were greatly distressed in our care for
the city of Naples, bereaved of the solace of a priest For an account of
the circumstances of the vacancy at Naples after the deposition of
Demetrius, cf. II. 6, note 3; II. 9, note 6.
Epistle XXII.
To Antoninus, Subdeacon.
Gregory to Antoninus, Subdeacon, Rector of the patrimony in Dalmatia.
It is commonly reported in these parts that our brother and fellow-bishop, Natalis of the Church of Salona, is dead. If this is true, let thy Experience with all speed and all care hasten to admonish the clergy and people of that city that with one consent they elect a priest for ordination; and, when the nomination of the person who may be elected has been made, thou wilt take care to transmit it to us, that he may be ordained with our consent, as has been the case from ancient times. And this above all things thou must look to, that in this election neither any bribery in any way whatever come in, nor the patronage of any persons whatever prevail. For if one is elected through the patronage of certain persons, he is obliged out of deference to them to comply with their wishes after his ordination, and so it comes to pass that the possessions of that church are lessened, and ecclesiastical order is not maintained. They must, therefore, under thy superintendence, elect such a person as will not be unsuitably subservient to the will of any one, but one who in the adornment of his life and conversation may be found worthy of such a high degree. But of the possessions or ornaments of the same church cause an inventory to be faithfully written out in thy presence. And, lest any of the possessions themselves should be lost, admonish Respectus the deacon and Stephanus the chief notary (primicerium notariarum) to take sole charge of these possessions, warning them that they will have to make good out of their own substance any diminution of them that may have arisen from their negligence.
Moreover, strictly charge Malchus For an account
of this Malchus and his doings, see II. 20, note 5.
Let any necessary expenses be defrayed by the
steward who was in office at the time of the aforesaid bishop’s
death, that so he may explain his accounts to the future bishop as he
knows them to be. All the things that we have enjoined on thee to
be done it is certainly necessary that thou shouldest do with the
advice of our son, the magnificent and most eloquent Marcellus Proconsul of
Dalmatia: see IX. 5. For subsequent proceedings in
connexion with the election of a successor to Natalis at Salona, see
III. 47. It appears that the co-operation of the proconsul
Marcellus, anticipated in this Epistle, was not in fact obtained, but
that he acted independently, and in opposition to Gregory. Cf.
IX. 5.
Epistle XXIX.
To the Presbyters and Clergy of Mediolanum
(Milan) As to the
great Metropolitan See of Milan having been anciently independent of
the See of Rome, cf. Bingham. Bk. IX., Ch. I., Sect. 10, 11. As
to Pope Gregory’s attitude with regard to it, as shewn in this
and the two following Epistles, we may remark as follows.
(1) The electors addressed (Ep. 29) are the clergy only,
not (as is usual in other cases) including the laity of the
Church. This may be due to the ancient custom of that
Church. (2) The electors, having already made their choice,
seem to have sent messengers to announce it to the pope (Ep.
29). (3) Gregory disclaims all desire of interfering either
in the election or in the consecration of the new Metropolitan,
according to ancient custom by his own suffragans, or in any way
infringing the prescriptive rights of the Church of Milan. But he
sends his own subdeacon, both to assure himself of the unanimity of the
election and to see to the consecration being effected according to
precedent. He also intimates (Epp. 30, 31) the necessity
of his own assent to the consecration.
Gregory to the presbyters, deacons, and clergy of the church of Mediolanum.
But, inasmuch as supernal judgment is wont to provide pastors for peoples according to their deservings, do you seek spiritual things, love heavenly things, despise things temporal and fugitive; and hold it for most certain that you will have a pastor who shall please God, if you in your own doings please God. Lo, all the things of this world, which we used to hear from the sacred page were doomed to perish, we see already ruined. Cities are overthrown, camps uprooted, churches destroyed; and no tiller of the ground inhabits our land. Among ourselves who are left, very few in number, the sword of man incessantly rages along with calamities wherewith we are smitten from above. Thus we see before our eyes the evils which we long ago heard should come upon the world, and the very regions of the earth have become as pages of books to us. In the passing away, then, of all things, we ought to take thought how that all that we have loved was nothing. View, therefore, with anxious heart the approaching day of the eternal judge, and by repenting anticipate its terrors. Wash away with tears the status of all your transgressions. Allay by temporal lamentation the wrath that hangs over you eternally. For our loving Creator, when He shall come for judgment, will comfort us with all the greater favour as He sees now that we are punishing ourselves for our own transgressions.
We are now sending to you, by the favour of God, John our subdeacon, the bearer of these presents, to this end;—that, with the help of Almighty God, he may see to your bishop-elect being consecrated after the manner of his predecessor. For, as we demand our rights from others, so we conserve their several rights to all.
Epistle XXX.
To John, Subdeacon.
Gregory to John, &c.
Inasmuch as it is manifest that the Apostolic See
is, by the ordering of God, set over all
Churches, there is, among our manifold cares, especial demand for our
attention, when our decision is awaited with a view to the consecration
of a bishop. Now on the death of Laurentius, bishop of the church
of Mediolanum, the clergy reported to us that they had unanimously
agreed in the election of our son Constantius, their deacon. But,
their report not having been subscribed, it becomes necessary, that we
may omit nothing in the way of caution, for thee to proceed to Genua
(Genoa), supported by the authority of this order The reason of
John the subdeacon being directed to go to Genoa rather than to Milan
may have been danger from the Lombards in approaching the latter place,
as well as the fact of many of the Milanese having, for the same
reason, taken refuge in Genoa.
Epistle XXXI.
To Romanus, Patrician.
Gregory to Romanus, Patrician, and Exarch of Italy.
We believe that your Excellency is already aware of the death of Laurentius, bishop of the church of Mediolanum. And since, so far as we have learnt from the report of the clergy, all have agreed in the election of our son Constantius, deacon of the same church, it was necessary for us, for keeping up old usage, to send a soldier of our church, to cause him in whose favour he finds the will and consent of all to concur unanimously to be consecrated by his own bishops, as ancient usage requires, though still with our assent. Wherefore, greeting you with fatherly affection as in duty bound, we request your Excellency to vouchsafe your support, justice approving, to the aforesaid Constantius, whether elected or not, whenever need may arise; to the end that this service may both exalt you here before your enemies, and commend you beforehand in the future life before God. For he is one of mine, and was once associated with me on very intimate terms. And you ought to hold as yours, and to love peculiarly, those whom you know to be ours.
Epistle XXXII.
To Honoratus, Archdeacon.
Gregory to Honoratus, Archdeacon of
Salona See I. 19, note
5.
The mandates of ourselves and of our predecessor had reached thy Love not long ago, in which thou wert acquitted of the charges calumniously brought against thee; and we ordered thee to be reinstated without any dispute in the order of thy rank. But, inasmuch as again after no great lapse of time, thou camest to the city of Rome complaining of some improper proceedings among you concerning the alienation of sacred vessels, and as, while we had persons with us here who might have replied to thy objections, Natalis, thy bishop, departed this life, we have judged it necessary to confirm further by this present letter those same mandates, both our predecessor’s and our own, which (as has been said) we sent not long ago for thy acquittal. Wherefore, acquitting thee fully of all the charges brought against thee, we will that thou continue without any dispute in the rank of thy order, so that the question raised by the aforesaid man may not on any pretext prejudice thee in the least degree. Moreover, as to the heads of thy complaint, we have straitly charged Antoninus, subdeacon and rector in your parts of the patrimony of holy Church over which, by God’s providence, we preside, that, if he should find ecclesiastical persons implicated in them, he decide these cases with the utmost strictness and authority. But, in case of the business being with such persons as the vigour of ecclesiastical jurisdiction cannot reach, he is to deposit the proofs under each particular head among the public acts, and transmit them to us without any delay, that, being accurately informed, we may know how, with the help of Christ, to dispose of the matter.
Epistle XXXIII.
To Dynamius, Patrician.
Gregory to Dynamius, Patrician of Gaul.
He who administers faithfully what is
other’s shews how well he dispenses what is his own. And
this your Glory makes manifest to us in that, intent on your annual
offering, you have rendered the blessed Peter, Prince of the apostles,
the fruits of his revenues. In paying him what is his faithfully,
you have made these gifts to him your own. For indeed it becomes
the glorious people of this earth who think of eternal glory so to act
that in virtue of their excelling in temporal power, they may procure
for themselves a reward that is not temporal. Accordingly,
addressing to you the greeting which we owe, we implore Almighty
God both to replenish your life with present
good, and to extend it to the lofty joys of eternity. For we have
received through our son Hilarus (al Hilarius) of the aforesaid
revenues of our Church four hundred Gallican solidi As to Gallic
money, cf. VI. 7, and note. Cf. I. 26, note
3.
Epistle XXXV.
To Peter, Subdeacon.
Gregory to Peter, subdeacon of Campania See II. 6, note
3.
Our brother and fellow-bishop Paul has often requested us to allow him to return to his own church. And, having perceived this to be reasonable, we have thought it needful to accede to his petition. Consequently let thy Experience convene the clergy of the Neapolitan church, to the end that they may choose two or three of their number, and not omit to send them hither for the election of a bishop. But let them also intimate, in their communication to us, that those whom they send represent them all in this election, so that their church may have its own bishop validly ordained. For we cannot allow it to be any longer without a ruler of its own. Should they perchance try in any way to set aside thy admonition, bring to bear on them the vigour of ecclesiastical discipline. For he will be giving proof of his own perverseness, whosoever does not of his own accord assent to this proceeding. Moreover, cause to be given to the aforesaid Paul, our brother and fellow-bishop, one hundred solidi, and one little orphan boy, to be selected by himself, for his labour in behalf of the same church. Further, admonish those who are to come hither as representing all for the election of a bishop, to remember that they must bring with them all the episcopal vestments, and also as much money as they may foresee to be necessary for him who may be elected bishop to have to his own use. But lose no time in despatching those of the clergy who are selected as we have said, that, seeing that there are present here divers nobles of the city of Naples, we may treat with them concerning the election of a bishop, and take counsel together with the help of the Lord.
Epistle XXXVI.
To Sabinus, Guardian (Defensorem).
Gregory to Sabinus, Guardian of Sardinia.
Certain serious matters having come to our ears which require canonical correction, we therefore charge thy Experience not to neglect to cause Januarius, our brother and fellow-bishop, together with John the notary, to appear before us with all speed, all excuses being laid aside, that in his presence what has been reported to us may be subjected to a thorough investigation. Further, if the religious women Pompeiana and Theodosia, according to their request, should wish to come hither, afford them your succour in all ways, that they may be able, through your assistance, to accomplish their desires: but especially be careful by all means to bring with you the most eloquent Isidore, as he has requested, that, the merits of his case which he is known to have against the Church of Caralis having been fully gone into, he may be able to have it legally terminated.
Furthermore, some personal misdemeanours having been reported to us of the presbyter Epiphanius, it is necessary for you to investigate everything diligently, and to make haste to bring at the same time with you the women with whom he is said to have sinned, or others whom you suppose to know anything about the matter; that so the truth may be clearly laid open to the rigour of ecclesiastical discipline.
Now you will take care to accomplish all these things so efficiently as to lay yourself open to no blame for negligence, knowing that it will be entirely at your peril if this our order should in any way be slackly executed.
Epistle XXXVIII.
To Libertinus, Præfect In some
mss. prætori, in others
exprætori. It seems probable from the contents of
this letter that Libertinus had succeeded Justinus (see I. 2) as
prætor of Sicily.
Gregory to Libertinus, Præfect of Sicily.
From the very beginning of your administration
God has willed you to go forth to vindicate
His cause, and of His mercy has reserved for you this reward, with
praise attending it. For it is reported that one Nasas, a most
wicked Jew, has with a temerity that calls for punishment erected an
altar under the name of the blessed Elias, and by sacrilegious
seduction has enticed many Christians to worship there; nay, has also,
it is said, acquired Christian slaves, and devoted them to his own
service and profit. Whilst, then, he ought to have been most
severely punished for such great crimes, the glorious Justinus See I. 2. In Cod.
lib. 1, tit. 10; “Judæus servum
Christianum nec comparare debebit, nec largitatis aut alioquocunque
titulo consequetur. Quod si aliquis Judæorum…, non
solum mancipii damno multetur, verum etiam capitali sententia
puniatur.” Eusebius also (De Vita Constantini,
lib. iv. c. 27) speaks of a law passed by Constantine forbidding
Jews to have Christian slaves, and ordering any that might be found to
be set at liberty, and the Jew to be fined. Cf. II.
21.
Epistle XLV.
To Andrew, Bishop.
Gregory to Andrew, Bishop of Tarentum [Taranto, in Calabria].
A man may look without alarm to the tribunal of the eternal Judge, if only, conscious of his own guilt, he strives to pacify Him by befitting penitence. Now that thou hadst a concubine we find to be manifestly true, with regard to whom also an adverse suspicion has arisen in the minds of some. But, since in doubtful cases judgment ought not to be absolute, we have chosen to leave the matter to thine own conscience. If, then, after being constituted in sacred orders thou rememberest having been defiled by carnal intercourse, thou must resign the dignity of priesthood, nor presume by any means to approach its ministration, knowing that thou wilt administer it to the peril of thy soul, and without doubt have to render an account to our God, if, being conscious of this crime, thou shouldest desire to continue in the order wherein thou art, concealing the truth. Wherefore we again exhort thee that, if thou knowest thyself to have been deceived by the craft of the ancient foe, thou hasten to overcome him, while thou mayest, by adequate penitence, lest, as we hope may not be, thou be reckoned as partner with him in the day of judgment. If, however, thou art not conscious of this guilt, thou must needs continue in the order wherein thou art.
Furthermore, since, against due order, thou didst
doom a woman on the Church-roll Mulierem de
matriculis. Matricula was probably a list or roll of
names of widows and other who were supported by the Church.
Epistle XLVI.
To John, Bishop.
Gregory to John, Bishop of Calliopolis [Gallipoli, in Calabria].
From the reports sent to us by thy Fraternity it appears that Andrew, our brother and fellow-bishop, undoubtedly had a concubine. But, since it is uncertain whether he has touched her while constituted in sacred orders, it is necessary that thou shouldest warn him with earnest exhortation that, if he knows himself to have had intercourse with her while in sacred orders, he should retire from the office which he holds, and minister no longer. And if, though conscious of having done this thing, he should conceal his sin and presume to minister, let him know that peril hangs over his soul in the divine judgment.
As to the woman on the Church-roll, whom he caused to be chastised with cudgels, though we do not believe that she died eight months afterwards, yet, since he caused her to be thus punished inconsistently with his sacred calling, do thou suspend him for two months from the solemnization of mass, that at any rate this disgrace may teach him how to behave himself in future.
Moreover, the clergy of the aforesaid bishop, in a petition presented to us, which is subjoined below, allege that they endure much ill-treatment from him. Wherefore let thy Fraternity take care to ascertain all these things accurately, and so to correct and arrange them in a reasonable way that they may be under no necessity hereafter of resorting hither on account of this matter. In the month of July, indiction 11.
Epistle XLVII.
To the Clergy of the Church of Salona For notice of the
Metropolitan See of Salona, and Gregory’s dealings with its
former bishop Natalis, see II. 18, note 3. The appointment of a
successor to Natalis engaged Gregory in a long struggle for maintenance
of his authority over the Illyrican churches, which on this occasion
seems to have been, for some time at least, slightly regarded.
What took place, as gathered from his extant letters, may be thus
summarised. Immediately on hearing of the death of Natalis he
wrote to Antoninus, the rector patrimonii in Dalmatia,
charging him to see to the canonical election of a successor and to its
notification, when made, to himself, that it might be approved, as was
customary, by the See of Rome (III. 22). This was in the 11th
Indiction, i.e. between Sept. a.d. 592 and
Sept. a.d. 593. Subsequently. having
been informed that the clergy of Salona had elected their archdeacon
Honoratus, he wrote to them in the letter before us approving their
choice, and exhorting them to stick to it, being evidently aware of a
party opposed to it. This Honoratus was the man whom he had
previously supported against Bishop Natalis, who had attempted to
deprive him of his archdeaconry. See II. 18, 19, 20; III.
32. Hence it was not improbable that the election of Honoratus
would be opposed by the partizans of the late bishop who, as appears
from his correspondence with Gregory, had been a convivial man, with a
pleasant vein of wit, and thus likely to be popular with many.
But, whatever the cause, Gregory before long received the startling
intelligence that not only had the election of Honoratus, confirmed by
himself, been set aside, but that another candidate, one Maximus, had
been actually ordained under the alleged authority of an order from the
Emperor. This defiance of his authority was the more offensive as
he had already, having apparently got wind of the candidature of
Maximus, prohibited his ordination under pain of excommunication of
both him and his ordainers (IV. 10). He accordingly wrote a
strongly-worded letter (IV. 20), dated May, a.d. 594, prohibiting Maximus from undertaking any
episcopal functions, and from officiating at the altar, till it should
be ascertained whether the emperor had really ordered his
consecration. But Maximus treated this prohibition with contempt
and appealed against the Pope to the Emperor, who thereupon wrote to
Gregory, requesting him to condone the fact of the ordination having
taken place without his assent, and bidding him receive Maximus with
honour if he should resort to Rome, as he was apparently desired to
do. This was at the time when John Jejunator, the patriarch of
Constantinople, had recently incensed Gregory by his assumption of the
title of Universal Bishop, and when the latter was urging the Emperor
to disallow the title. Writing on this subject to the Empress
Constantina, he alludes also to the case of Maximus, hoping through her
whose religious reverence for St. Peter he appeals to, to move the
Emperor. In his letter to her (V. 72), written in the 13th
Indiction (594–5), he consents, in deference to the
Emperor’s wish, to look over the fact of Maximus having been
ordained without his leave; but he insists on his appearing at Rome to
answer to other charges, including especially that of simony, and his
having disregarded the excommunication pronounced against him. He
also protests strongly against his bishops being allowed to appeal to
the secular power in ecclesiastical causes. But he did not thus
move the Emperor, who appears from one of Gregory’s letters to
Maximus (VI. 25) to have directed any charges against the latter to be
entertained in his own locality rather than at Rome. Meanwhile
Maximus continued to disregard Gregory’s repeated letters
summoning him to Rome, being apparently supported by a majority of his
own people and of his suffragan bishops. For in a letter to the
Salonitans (VI. 26), written in the 14th Indiction (395–6),
Gregory expresses his surprise that Honoratus alone among the clergy of
Salona, and one only of the suffragan bishops, had refused to
communicate with Maximus, notwithstanding his excommunication.
However, as time went on, Gregory’s persistence seems to have had
some effect. In the 15th Indiction (596–7) one of the
suffragan bishops, Sabinianus of Jadera, who had previously
communicated with Maximus, deserts him, and is invited by Gregory to
come to Rome to be absolved, and to bring with him any other whom he
could persuade to come (VII. 15). Sabinianus did not go, but
retired for a time to a monastery by way of expressing penitence, after
which Gregory in the following year granted him full absolution (VIII.
10, 24). Perhaps about a year later, in the 2nd Indiction (IX.
5), we find Gregory writing to Marcellus, the proconsul of Dalmatia, in
reply to a letter from him in which he had expressed his regret for
being apparently out of favour with the pope, and his wish to be
reconciled. This Marcellus had been, according to what Gregory
says in his reply, the prime and original abettor of Maximus; and it
would seem that he had now become desirous of coming to terms with the
pope. In the same year we find a letter to one Julianus,
described as Scribo, at Salona, who had addressed Gregory
with a view to peace, asserting that Maximus enjoyed both the affection
of his people and the favour of the court (IX. 41). In replying to both these correspondents
Gregory shews no signs of giving way: but in the same Indiction
(588–9) he did give way to an extent that seems at first sight
surprising, considering the resolute tone of his previous
correspondence. He may have been partly moved to make some
concession by such letters as those from Marcellus and Julianus,
testifying to the character of Maximus and to the support he continued
to receive; but the intercessor who really prevailed with him at last
appears evidently to have been Callinicus, Exarch of Italy, resident at
Ravenna, to whom Maximus had applied after failing to induce the
Emperor himself to interfere. In one of his letters (IX. 67),
Gregory says that Maximus, having failed to influence “the
greater powers of the world” in his behalf, had betaken himself
to the lesser ones, and implies that it was to their intercession that
the concession he was prepared to make was due. It may be
supposed that by “the greater power” are meant the imperial
family, and that among “the lesser” Callinicus was at any
rate the most influential: for in writing to the latter (IX. 9)
he says, “In the cause of Maximus we can no longer resist the
importunity of thy Sweetness;” and again to Marinianus, bishop of
Ravenna, “I have received repeated and pressing letters from my
most excellent son the lord exarch Callinicus in behalf of
Maximus. Overcome by his importunity, &c.” (IX.
10). Nor is the reason far to seek why the intercession of
Callinicus should at that particular time prevail. For Gregory
was in correspondence with him, and most anxious to secure his
co-operation, in the reconciliation to the Roman Church of the Istrian
bishops, who had so far been out of communion with Rome in the matter
of “the Three Chapters” and was therefore likely to wish to
oblige him. However induced, he now consented that Maximus should
appear not before himself at Rome as he had before so resolutely
insisted, but before Marinianus, bishop of Ravenna, and promised to
accede to whatever the latter might determine (IX. 10). Nay, he
even accepted the proposal of Marinianus that the charges against
Maximus should not be investigated at all, but that a declaration on
oath by the accused of his own innocence should be accepted as a
sufficient purgation; requiring only that he should do such penance as
the bishop of Ravenna might impose for having disregarded the
excommunication pronounced at Rome (IX. 79, 80). He wrote also to
Constantius, bishop of Milan, requesting him to proceed to Ravenna in
order to act in concert with Marinianus in case of Maximus not having
confidence in the latter (IX. 67). But the bishop of Ravenna
appears to have acted alone: and the result was that Maximus was
acquitted of simony and all other charges, and, after doing the penance
assigned by Marinianus at Ravenna, was, seven years after his
ordination, cordially received by Gregory into communion, and had the
pallium sent him (IX. 81, 82, 125). The epistles to be consulted
for a view of the whole proceedings are III. 22, 47; IV. 10, 20, 47; V.
21; VI. 3, 25, 26, 27; VII. 17; VIII. 10, 24; IX. 5, 10, 41, 67, 79,
80, 81, 82, 125.
Gregory to the clergy, &c.
Having read your letter, beloved, we learn
See III. 22.
To Columbus, Bishop See II. 48, note
8.
Gregory to Columbus, &c.
Even before receiving thy Fraternity’s letter, I knew thee from the report of thy deserved reputation to be a good servant of God. And now that I have received it, I understand more fully that what fame had already spread abroad was well founded; and I greatly rejoice in thy deserts, in that thou exhibitest manners and deeds that testify to a praiseworthy life. Since, then, I feel that these things are conferred on thee by the Supernal Majesty, I congratulate thee; and I bless God our Creditor, who denies not the gifts of His mercy to His humble servants. On this account I declare it to be true that thy Fraternity so kindles me with the flame of charity to love thee, and my spirit is so united to thee, that I both desire to see thee and am also with thee in heart, though absent. Thou perceivest in thine own thoughts that this is so. For in truth unity of minds in charity has power to unite more than bodily presence can. Furthermore, that with thy whole mind, thy whole heart, thy whole soul, thou cleavest and art devoted to the Apostolic See I am now assured, as, indeed before thy letter had borne testimony to the fact, I plainly knew. Wherefore, first addressing thee with the greeting of charity which is due, I exhort thee not to cease to be mindful of what thou hast promised to the blessed Peter, Prince of the apostles.
Wherefore be thou urgent with the primate of thy
synod With regard
to Primates in Africa, see I. 74, note 9. The primate of Numidia
at this time was Adeodatus. See below, Ep. 49.
If, then, thou art aware of these things being done, keep not silence, but oppose them urgently; since, if perchance thou shouldest neglect them, or conceal them when known of, the chain of sin will bind not those alone who do such things, but no light guilt before God will touch thee also in the matter. If, then, anything of the kind is committed, it ought to be restrained by canonical punishment, lest so great a wickedness, with sin in others, acquire strength from connivance.
I have, therefore, the sooner given leave of departure to the bearer of these presents, Victorinus, thy Fraternity’s deacon, whom I think to be thy imitator, and whom I have received with charity; and by him I have transmitted to thee for a blessing keys of the blessed Peter, in which something from his chains is included.
Lastly, with regard to the unity and peace of the council which, under God, you are taking measures to assemble, let thy Charity rejoice my mind by informing me of everything particularly.
Epistle XLIX.
To Adeodatus, Bishop.
Gregory to Adeodatus, Primate bishop of the province of Numidia.
After what manner the charity of affection has bound your Fraternity to usward the tenour of your letters has evidently shewn; and they have afforded us great matter of rejoicing, in that we have found them to be composed in a spirit of loving-kindness, and to glow with affection well-pleasing to God. As, then, we have briefly said, the epistle which you have addressed to us has so laid open your mind that its author might be supposed not to be absent from us at all. For, indeed, persons are not to be accounted absent whose feelings are not at variance with mutual charity. And though, as you say in your letter, neither your strength nor your age allow you to come to us, that we might be gratified by the bodily presence of your Fraternity, yet, seeing that we are one with you and you with us in feeling, we are entirely present one to the other, while we see each other in a mind made one through love. Furthermore, greeting your Fraternity with the suitable affection of charity, we exhort you that you study with all your heart so to acquit yourself wisely in the office of primacy which under God you hold, that it may both profit your soul to have attained to this rank, and that you may stand out as a good example for imitation to others in the future.
Be, then, especially careful with regard to ordination;
and by no means admit any to aspire to sacred orders but such as are
somewhat advanced in age and pure in deeds, lest perchance they cease
for ever to be what they immaturely haste to be. For you must
first examine the life and manners of those who are to be placed in any
sacred order; and, that you may be able to admit such as are worthy to
this office, let not the influence or the entreaty of any persons
whatever inveigle
Epistle LI.
To Maximianus, Bishop.
Gregory to Maximinianus, Bishop of
Syracuse See II. 7, note
5.
My brethren who live with me familiarly urge me by
all means to write something briefly about the miracles of the Fathers
done in Italy, which we have heard of. With this view I am in
great need of the assistance of your Charity, to mention to me shortly
what comes back to your memory, and what you happen to have
known. For I remember your telling me something, which I have now
forgotten, about the Lord Domno.
“Abbas autem, quia vices Christi agere creditur, Domnus et Abbas
vocetur.” Regula S. Benedicti, c.
63. Domno.
“Abbas autem, quia vices Christi agere creditur, Domnus et Abbas
vocetur.” Regula S. Benedicti, c.
63. The miracles
attributed to Nonnosus, which are here referred to, are told in
Dialog. I. 7, as having been communicated to Gregory by
Maximianus and an old monk called Laurio. Nonnosos, at the time
when they were wrought, had been Prior under Anastasius of a monastery
on the summit of Mount Soracte.
Epistle LIII.
To John, Bishop.
Gregory to John, Bishop of Constantinople John Jejunator
(or the Faster), so called from his ascetic habits. Gregory had
known and esteemed him during his residence at Constantinople.
See above, III. 4. The occasion of the letter before us was as
follows. Two presbyters, John of Chalcedon and Athanasius of
Isauria (the latter being also a monk in the monastery of St. Mile in
Isauria), had been accused of heresy at Constantinople, found guilty,
and one of them beaten with cudgels in the church. They had gone
to Rome to lay their grievances before the pope, who had written to
John Jejunator the Patriarch more than once to protest against so
uncanonical a punishment. The Patriarch seems to have replied
that he knew nothing about the matter: whereupon Gregory sent him
this stinging letter. In the following year (593–4), it
appears from a letter to Narses, a patrician at Constantinople, that
the case was still pending. Narses had reported the Patriarch as
wishing to act canonically; and Gregory, doubtfully hoping so,
threatens strong measures if it should be otherwise (IV. 32).
Afterwards (a.d. 594–5) it seems as if
the Patriarch had written on the subject pleasantly: for at the
end of a long letter to him protesting against his assumption of the
title of “Œcumenical Bishop,” Gregory alludes
to his “scripta dulcissima atque suavissima” in the
matter of John and Athanasius, promising a reply (V. 18). In the
following year (a.d. 595–6) we find that
the charges of heresy against the two presbyters had been entertained
before Gregory in a Roman synod; and this apparently with the assent of
the Patriarch, who had transmitted a statement of the case. John
of Chalcedon had been fully acquitted of heresy; but some doubt still
remained as to the orthodoxy of Athanasius. Accordingly John was
at once sent back to Constantinople with a letter from Gregory to the
Patriarch, reversing the sentence against him which had been passed at
Constantinople and demanding that he should be received with favour and
reinstated. As though doubtful of the Patriarch’s
compliance, Gregory addressed also the Emperor, and Theoctistus, a
relation of the Emperor’s, requesting them to protect the
acquitted appellant (VI. 14, 15, 16, 17). In the same year
Athanasius, who had explained or retracted what had been objected to in
his writings, was also declared orthodox, and sent back to
Constantinople as acquitted. But this was after the death of John
Jejunator; and accordingly the letter demanding the reinstatement of
Athanasius was addressed to his successor Cyriacus (VI. 66; VII.
5). How John Jejunator would have acted at this stage of the
proceedings, had he lived, we have no means of knowing; nor is there
record of the action of Cyriacus. The only further reference to
the subject in the epistles is in one to the two Patriarchs of
Alexandria and Antioch (VII. 34), in writing to whom Gregory sets forth
at some length the doctrinal questions that had been treated in the
trial of Athanasius, as though desirous of having the assent of those
apostolical and patriarchal sees, which (as we have seen) he elsewhere
acknowledges as sharing with his own the authority of St. Peter, to the
decision come to at Rome. The whole history of the case, which,
as has been seen, was protracted through several years, is of some
importance as illustrating Gregory’s claim to entertain appeals
from Constantinople, and to reverse at Rome what had been decided
there, though it is not equally clear, from what is before us in this
particular case, how such claims were viewed at Constantinople.
On the one hand we find no sign of the appeal of the two presbyters to
Rome having been objected to; while on the other, Gregory evidently had
his doubts as to whether the Roman decision would be acted on at
Constantinople; and whether it was so or not we do not know. The
letters about it, above referred to, are III. 53; IV. 32; V. 18; VI.
14, 15, 16, 17, 66; VII. 5, 34.
Though consideration of the case moves me, yet charity
also impels me to write, since I have written once and again to my most
holy brother the lord John, but have received no letter from him.
For some one else, a secular person, addressed me under his name;
seeing that, if those were really his letters, I have not been
vigilant, having believed of him something far different from what I
have found. For I had written about the case of the most reverend
presbyter John, and about the questions of the monks of Isauria, one of
whom, being in priest’s orders,
Epistle LVI.
To John, Bishop.
Gregory to John, Bishop of Ravenna This John, and
apparently previous bishops of Ravenna, appear to have assumed a
dignity not conceded to other metropolitans; perhaps on the ground of
Ravenna being the seat of the Exarch, and having been once the imperial
residence. The pallium usually granted to Metropolitans was
allowed to be used by them only during the celebration of the
Eucharist; and we find Gregory, in several epistles, restricting them
to such use of it, when he sent it to them. John was reported to
have worn it while receiving the laity in the sacristy before
celebration; and he owned to having worn it in solemn processions
through the city, alleging custom and peculiar privilege.
Further, his clergy, when accompanying him in processions, had been
accustomed to carry napkins (mappulæ), which appear to have
been signs of dignity. It is for these assumptions that Gregory
now remonstrates with him; but apparently in vain with regard to the
use of the pallium in processions through the city: for
Marinianus, the successor of John, continued the custom, though whether
he finally persisted in it does not appear. Other letters
referring to the subject are V. 15; VI. 34, 61.
It is not long since certain things had been
But your Fraternity has been too much moved; and
when, in the swelling of thy heart, as if to justify thyself, thou
wrotest that thou didst not use the pallium except after the sons of
the Church had been dismissed from the sacristy Secretarium,
viz. the chamber adjoining the church in which the vestments and sacred
utensils were kept, and the clergy vested for service; and in which
also as appears from this and the following epistle, the bishop was
accustomed to receive the laity before mass. From the custom of
holding synods in the apartments so called, the sessions of synods were
also themselves sometimes called secretaria.
It is therefore the duty of thy Fraternity, if
thou art firmly determined to defend thy honours with any kind of
arguments, either to follow the use of the generality without written
authority, or to defend thyself under privileges shewn in
writing. Or, if lastly thou doest neither, we will not have thee
set an example of presumption of this sort to other
metropolitans. But, lest thou shouldest perchance think that we,
in thus writing to you, have neglected what belongs to fraternal
charity, know ye that careful search has been made in our archives for
the privileges of thy Church. And indeed some things have been
found, sufficient to obviate entirely the aims of thy Fraternity, but
nothing to support the contentions of your Church on the points in
question. For even concerning the very custom of thy Church which
thou allegest against us, which custom we wrote before should be proved
on your side, we would have you know that we have already taken thought
sufficiently, having questioned our sons, Peter the deacon and
Gaudiosus the primicerius The term
primiceriusis variously applied, denoting the chiefs of
departments. In Ep. 22, supra, we find
primicerium notariorum. In VII. 32, we find also the
designation Secundi cerius.
Furthermore, you have complained that certain of the sacerdotal order in the city of Ravenna are involved in serious criminal charges. Their case we desire thee either to examine on the spot, or to send them hither (unless, indeed, difficulty of proof owing to the distance of the places stands in the way of this), that the case may be examined here. But if, relying on the patronage of great people, which we do not believe, they should scorn to submit to thy judgment or to come to us, and should refuse contumaciously to answer to the charges made against them, we desire that after thy second and third admonition, thou interdict them from the ministry of the sacred office, and report to us in writing of their contumacy, that we may deliberate how thou oughtest to make a thorough enquiry into their doings, and correct them according to canonical definitions. Let, therefore, thy Fraternity know that we are most fully absolved from responsibility in this case, seeing that we have committed to you a thorough investigation of the matter; and that, if all their sins should pass unpunished, the whole weight of this enquiry redounds to the peril of thy soul. And know, beloved, that thou wilt have no excuse at the future judgment, if thou dost not correct the excesses of thy clergy with the utmost severity of canonical strictness, and if thou allowest any against whom such excesses shall have been proved to profane sacred orders any longer.
Further, what you have written in defence of the use of napkins by your clergy is strenuously opposed by our own clergy, who say that this has never been granted to any other Church whatever, and that neither have the clergy of Ravenna, either there or in the Roman city, presumed, to their knowledge, in any such way, nor, if it has been attempted in the way of furtive usurpation, does it form a precedent. But, even though there had been such presumption in any church whatever, they assert that it ought to be corrected, not being by grant of the Roman pontiff, but merely a surreptitious presumption. But we, to save the honour of thy Fraternity, though against the wish of our aforesaid clergy, still allow the use of napkins to your first deacons (whose former use of them has been testified to us by some), but only when in attendance upon thee. The use of them, at any other time, or by any other persons, we most strictly prohibit.
Epistle LVII.
From John, Bishop of Ravenna to Pope
Gregory See Ep.
56. John of Ravenna, notwithstanding his obsequious language in
this letter, appears to have been by no means disposed to give
way. For see Gregory’s subsequent letter to him (V. 15), in
which he is sharply accused of duplicity. And not only he, but
his successor in the see also, appear to have continued the practice of
wearing the pallium in public processions. What he says in the
letter before us of his having incurred odium by his defence of the
authority of the Roman See may be noted as significant of some jealousy
of such authority at Ravenna.
My most reverend fellow-servant Castorius, notary of your Apostolical See, has delivered to me my Lord’s epistle, compounded of honey and of venom; which has yet so infixed its stings as still to leave place for healing appliances. For my Lord, while he reproves pride and speaks of divine judgment following it, in a certain way professes himself with reason to be mild and placid.
You have alleged, then, that I, ambitious of
novelty, have usurped the use of the pallium beyond what had been
indulged to my predecessors. This let not the conscience of my
own lord, which is governed by the divine right hand, in any way allow
itself to believe; nor let him open his most sacred ears to the
uncertainty of common report. First, because I, though a sinner,
still know how grave a thing it is to transgress the limits assigned to
us by the Fathers, and that all elation leads to nothing but a
fall. For, if our ancestors did not tolerate pride in kings, how
much more is it not to be endured in priests! Then, I remember
how I was nourished in the lap and in the bosom of your most holy Roman
Church, and therein by the aid of God
advanced. And how should I be so daring as to presume to oppose
that most holy see, which transmits its laws to the universal Church,
for maintaining whose authority, as God knows,
I have seriously excited the ill-will of many enemies
Ut mox
procedatur. The word procedere is used here, and
elsewhere, for approaching the altar for celebration. Cf. below,
and VII. 34.
Wherefore let no one endeavour to insinuate anything against me to my lord, since if any one wishes to do so, he cannot prove that any novelty has been introduced by me. For in what manner I have obeyed your commands and served your interests when cause required, may Almighty God make manifest to your most sincere heart: and I attribute it to my sins that after so many labours and difficulties which I endure within and without I should deserve to experience such a change. But again this among other things consoles me, that most holy fathers sometimes chastise their sons for the purpose only of advancing them the more, and that, after this devotion and satisfaction, you will not only conserve to the holy Church of Ravenna her ancient privileges, but even confer greater ones in your own times.
For with respect to the napkins, the use of which
by my presbyters and deacons your Apostleship alleges to be a
presumption, I confess in truth that it irks me to say anything on the
subject, since the truth by itself, which alone prevails with my lord,
is sufficient. For this being allowed to the smaller churches
constituted around the city, the apostleship of my lord will also be
able in all ways to find, if he deigns to enquire of the venerable
clergy of his own first Apostolical See, that as often as priests or
levites of the Church of Ravenna have come to Rome for the ordination
of bishops or for business, they all have proceeded
Procedebant. See last note.
Procedebant. See last note.
Epistle LIX.
To Secundinus, Bishop.
Gregory to Secundinus, Bishop of Tauromenium. [In Sicily.]
Some time ago we ordered that the
baptistery Baptisteries
(baptisteria) were anciently separate buildings adjoining
churches (cf. VI. 22), the fontes being the pools of water
(called also piscinæ and κολυμβήθρα) therein contained. (See Bingham, B. VIII. C. VII. Sect.
1, 4.) The inconvenience to the monks of having a baptistery at
their monastery would be from the concourse of people resorting to it,
which would interfere with monastic seclusion. For a similar
reason Gregory more than once forbids public masses in
monasteries. Cf. e.g. II. 41; VI. 46. Fonts were anciently
sunken pools. “In medio habet fontem in terra excavatam ad
quinque ulnas…tribus gradibus in id descensus
est.” Onuphrius, de baptisterio
Lateran.
Epistle LX.
To Italica, Patrician Possibly the same
lady whom the ex-monk Venantius married. See I. 34, note 8, and
IX. 123. The correspondence that took place at this time between
her and Gregory seems to have arisen from some question of legal right,
in which she appeared to the latter to be dealing harshly with some
poor persons, perhaps peasants (rustici) on an estate of the
Church (hujus Ecclesiæ pauperibus). The passing
tribute paid in this letter to the lady’s personal charms is
characteristic of Gregory’s complimentary style, and (supposing
her to have been the same Italica who became the bride of Venantius)
suggests one attraction which may have drawn the latter away from his
intended monastic life. Further on the same supposition, we may
perhaps read with interest between the lines of this letter something
of the feeling subsisting at the time of writing between the
correspondents. She, being a well-bred patrician lady, had
evidently written to him with gentle courtesy. But he detected,
or thought he detected, something wanting in the tone of her
letter. Nor was she likely to feel warmly towards him who now
called her to account, if it were he whom she knew to have done all he
could to alienate Venantius from her. He, on the other hand while
addressing her in return with all the courtesy due to her rank and
character, and evidently anxious to avoid unpleasantness, shews signs
of not being entirely satisfied as to her feelings towards himself, or
her readiness to follow his admonitions. It is interesting to
observe that, judging from the tone of subsequent Epistles, we may
conclude very friendly relations to have been afterwards maintained
between Gregory and the wedded pair.
Gregory to Italica, &c.
We have received your letter, which is full
Epistle LXV.
To Mauricius Augustus This letter is
supposed to have been written in the third Indiction (a.d. 592–3); the law complained of having been
issued in the previous year. The epistle, which follows, to the
Emperor’s physician on the same subject, shews how much Gregory
had it at heart. Some five years later it appears from a letter
to divers metropolitans, dated December, a.d.
597 (VIII. 5), that an amicable agreement had meanwhile been come to,
both the Emperor and the Pope having made some concessions. Cf.
also the end of Ep. 24 in Book X.
Gregory to Mauricius, &c.
He is guilty before Almighty God who is not pure of offence towards our most serene lords in all he does and says. I, however, unworthy servant of your Piety, speak in this my representation neither as a bishop, nor as your servant in right of the republic, but as of private right, since, most serene Lord, you have been mine since the time when you were not yet lord of all.
On the arrival here of the most illustrious
Longinus, the equerry (stratore), I received the law of my
lords, to which, being at the time worn out by bodily sickness, I was
unable to make any reply. In it the piety of my lords has
ordained that it shall not be lawful for any one who is engaged in any
public administration to enter on an ecclesiastical office. And
this I greatly commended, knowing by most evident proof that one who is
in haste to desert a secular condition and enter on an ecclesiastical
office is not wishing to relinquish secular affairs, but to change
them. But, at its being said in the same law that it should not
be lawful for him to become a monk, I was altogether surprised, seeing
that his accounts can be rendered through a monastery, and it can be
arranged for his debts also to be recovered from the place into which
he is received. For with whatever devout intention a person may
have wished to become a monk, he should first restore what he has
wrongly gotten, and take thought for his soul all the more truly as he
is the more disencumbered. It is added in the same law that no
one who has been marked on the hand Cf. below, “in
terrena militia signatus.” It appears that not slaves only,
but soldiers also, were sometime marked on the hand. Cf. Cyprian,
Ad Donatum, “Te quem jam spiritualibus castris militia
signavit.”
To this, behold, Christ through me the last of His servants and of yours will answer, saying; From a notary I made thee a Count of the bodyguard; from Count of the bodyguard I made thee a Cæsar; from a Cæsar I made thee Emperor; and not only so, but also a father of emperors. I have committed my priests into thy hand; and dost thou withdraw thy soldiers from my service? Answer thy servant, most pious lord, I beseech thee; what wilt thou answer to thy Lord when He comes and thus speaks?
But peradventure it is believed that no one among them turns monk with a pure motive. I, your unworthy servant, know how many soldiers who have become monks in my own days have done miracles, have wrought signs and mighty deeds. But by this law it is forbidden that even one of such as these should become a monk.
Let my Lord enquire, I beg, what former emperor ever enacted such a law, and consider more thoroughly whether it ought to have been enacted. And indeed it is a very serious consideration, that now at this time any are forbidden to leave the world; a time when the end of the world is drawing nigh. For lo! there will be no delay: the heavens on fire, the earth on fire, the elements blazing, with angels and archangels, thrones and dominions, principalities and powers, the tremendous Judge will appear. Should He remit all sins, and say only that this law has been promulged against Himself, what excuse, pray, will there be? Wherefore by the same tremendous Judge I beseech you, that all those tears, all those prayers, all those fasts, all those alms of my Lord, may not on any ground lose their lustre before the eyes of Almighty God: but let your Piety, either by interpretation or alteration, modify the force of this law, since the army of my lords against their enemies increases the more when the army of God has been increased for prayer.
I indeed, being subject to your command, have caused this law to be transmitted through various parts of the world; and, inasmuch as the law itself is by no means agreeable to Almighty God, lo, I have by this my representation declared this to my most serene lords. On both sides, then, I have discharged my duty, having both yielded obedience to the Emperor, and not kept silence as to what I feel in behalf of God.
Epistle LXVI.
To Theodorus, Physician.
Gregory to Theodorus, &c.
What benefits I enjoy from Almighty God and my most serene lord the Emperor my tongue cannot
fully express. For these benefits what return is it in me to
make, but to love their footsteps sincerely? But, on account of
my sins, by whose suggestion or counsel I know not, in the past year he
has promulged such a law in his republic that whoso loves him sincerely
must lament exceedingly. I could not reply to this law at the
time, being sick. But I have just now offered some suggestions to
my lord. For he enjoins that it shall be lawful for no one to
become a monk who has been engaged in any public employment, for no one
who is a paymaster Nullus qui
optio.—“Optiones: Militaris annonæ
eragatores: distribiteurs des vivres aux soldats” (Cod.
Th.) D’Arnis Lexicon Manuale.
Now it seems to me exceedingly hard that he should debar
his soldiers from the service of Him who both gave him all and granted
him to rule not only over soldiers but even over priests. If his
purpose is to save property
Epistle LXVII.
To Domitian, Metropolitan This Domitian,
Bishop of Melitene and Metropolitan of Roman Armenia, was a kinsman of
the Emperor Maurice, and had lately been successfully employed by him
in coming to terms with the Persian king, Chosroes II., as is related
in the histories of Evagrius and Theophylact. The latter
describes him as “holy in life, sweet in speech, ready in action,
most prudent in council” (Hist. iv. 14). He also
gives at length an eloquent sermon of his, delivered after the cession,
through his mediation, of the city Martyropolis in Mesopotamia to the
Roman Emperor (IV. 16). Chosroes II., who is said to have had a
strong regard for Domitian, appears to have had some leanings towards
Christianity. We are told that, when flying from his enemies in
Persia, and in doubt whether to seek refuge with the Romans or the
Turks, he had let his horse take its own course, calling on the God of
the Christians for guidance, and thus found his way to Circesium, where
he was received by Probus the Governor (Theophyl. IV. 10;
Evagr. H. E. VI. 16). Further, it is related that,
on one occasion, when Probus, bishop of Chalcedon, had been sent to him
as ambassador by the Emperor, he requested to be shewn a portrait of
the Blessed Virgin, which he adored when he saw it, saying that he had
seen the original in a vision (Theophyl. V. 15); and also that
he attributed his own success in arms, and the pregnancy of his
favourite wife Syra (Shirin), who was herself a Christian, to the
intercession of S. Sergius, whom he had invoked, and that he sent a
cross of pure gold, adorned with jewels, which he had vowed with other
presents, to the shrine of the saint, together with a letter of
acknowledgment addressed to him (Theophyl. V. 13, 14; Evagr.
H. E. VI. 20). But he certainly never became a Christian,
though it appears from the letter before us that Domitian had done his
best to convert him. The earlier part of this epistle refers
evidently to some allegorical interpretation of Scripture by Gregory
after his usual manner, to which Domitian had taken
objection.
Gregory to Domitian, &c.
On receiving the letters of your most sweet
Blessedness I greatly rejoiced, since they spoke much to me of sacred
Scripture. And, finding in them the dainties that I love, I
greedily devoured them. Therein also were many things
intermingled about external and necessary affairs. And you have
acted as though preparing a banquet for the mind so that the offered
dainties might please the more from their diversity. And if
indeed external affairs, like inferior and ordinary kinds of food, are
less savoury, yet they have been treated by you so skilfully as to be
taken gladly, since even contemptible kinds of food are usually made
sweet by the sauce of one who cooks well. Now, while the truth of
the History is kept to, what I had said some time ago about its divine
meaning ought not to be rejected. For, although, since you will
have it so, its meaning may not suit my case, yet, from its very
context, what was said as being drawn from it may be held without
hesitation. For her violator (i.e. Dinah’s) is
called the prince of the country (
So much therefore I would say in order to shew that the
sense which I set forth is not improbable in connexion with the
context. But what has been inferred from the same passage by your
Holiness for my comfort I gladly accept, since in the understanding of
sacred Scripture whatever is not opposed to a sound faith ought not to
be rejected. For, even as from the same gold some make necklaces,
some rings, and some bracelets, for ornament, so from the same
knowledge of sacred Scripture different expositors, through innumerable
ways of understanding it, compose as it were various ornaments, which
Further, of Mauricius you say well, that from the shadow I may know the statue; that is, that in small things I may perpend greater things. In this matter, however, we trust him, since oaths and hostages bind his soul to us.
Epistle I.
To Constantius, Bishop.
Gregory to Constantius, Bishop of Mediolanum (Milan).
On receiving the letters of your Fraternity I returned great thanks to Almighty God, that I was counted worthy to be refreshed by the celebration of your ordination. Truly that all, by the gift of God, with one accord concurred in your election, is a fact which thy Fraternity ought with the utmost consideration to estimate, since, after God, you are greatly indebted to those who with so submissive a disposition desired you to be preferred before themselves.
It becomes you, therefore, with priestly benignity to respond to their behaviour, and with kind sympathy to attend to their needs. If perchance there are any faults in any of them, rebuke these with well-considered reproofs, so that your very priestly indignation be mingled with a savour of sweetness, and that so you may be loved by your subjects even when you are greatly feared. Such conduct will also induce great reverence for your person in their judgment; since, as hasty and habitual rage is despised, so discriminate indignation against faults for the most part becomes the formidable in proportion as it has been slow.
Further, John our subdeacon, who has returned, has reported many good things of you as to which we beseech Almighty God Himself to fulfil what He has begun; to the end that He may shew thee to have advanced in good inwardly and outwardly both now among men and hereafter among the angels.
Moreover, we have sent thee, according to custom, a pallium to be used in the sacred solemnities of mass. But I beg you, when you receive it, to vindicate its dignity and its meaning by humility.
Epistle II.
To Constantius, Bishop.
Gregory to Constantius, Bishop of Mediolanum.
My most beloved son, the deacon Boniface, has
conveyed to me certain private information through thy
Fraternity’s letter; namely that three bishops, having sought out
rather than found an occasion, have separated themselves from the pious
communion of your Fraternity, saying that you have assented to the
condemnation of the Three Chapters As to the
schism from Rome in the province of Istria consequent on the
condemnation of “The Three Chapters” by the fifth General
Council, see I. 16, note 3. It appears that in the adjacent
province of Liguria, of which Mediolanum (Milan) was the
metropolis, there was a like rejection of the fifth council on the part
at least of some bishops, who had consequently declined communion with
their newly-appointed Metropolitan Constantius, who was believed to
have agreed formally to the condemnation of The Three
Chapters. Cautionem
fecisse: i.e. had pledged himself to the pope by a formal
document to uphold the fifth council in its condemnation of the said
Chapters. Theodelinda, the
Lombard queen, was a catholic Christian, though her husband Agilulph
was still an Arian. Ticinum (or Pavia), which was the residence
of the Lombard Kings, was under the Metropolitan jurisdiction of Milan;
and it appears that, under the influence of the dissentient bishops of
the province, she too had refused to communicate with the new
Metropolitan. Gregory’s anticipation, expressed in what
follows, that she would easily be brought round, was premature:
for ten years later (a.d. 603–4) we find
Gregory still taking pains to overcome her scruples with regard to the
fifth council. See XIV. 12. Viz. Epistle 4
below. This letter, however, was not delivered to the queen by
the bishop Constantius, to whom it had been sent, because of the
allusion contained in it to the fifth council, which she appears to
have been resolute in rejecting. The new bishop thought she would
be more likely to accept him as orthodox, if it were only said that he
adhered in all respects to the faith of the four previous councils,
including that of Chalcedon. See below, Ep. 39.
Accordingly another letter (Ep. 38), in which allusion to the
fifth council was omitted, was prepared and sent in accordance with the
advice of Constantius. See further, note 8, under Epistle
3.
Furthermore, you have accurately and briefly
informed me of what has been done, whether by King Ago I.e. Agilulph
the Lombard King. The time (Indict. XII., i.e. a.d. 593–4) was after he had invested Rome and
returned to Pavia, and when Gregory had in vain urged Romanus
Patricius, the Exarch at Ravenna, to come to terms with him.
Gregory appears prepared to approach him now with a view to a separate
peace with himself, which he says afterwards (see V. 36, 40) he could
have made if he had been so minded. Letters bearing on the
subject are V. 36, 40, 41, 42; VI. 30; IX. 4, 6, 42, 43, 98. See
also Proleg. p. xxi. I.e. Romanus
Patricius, the Exarch.
Epistle III.
To Constantius, Bishop.
Gregory to Constantius, Bishop of Mediolanum.
It has come to my knowledge that certain bishops
of your diocese, seeking out rather than finding an occasion, have
attempted to sever themselves from the unity of your Fraternity, saying
that thou hadst given a security Cautionem
fecisse. See Ep. 2, note 2. The contention of
those who disapproved of the condemnation of “The Three
Chapters” by the fifth council was not only that the condemnation
of deceased persons was wrong as well as useless, but also that it
impugned the faith of the Council of Chalcedon. For that Council
had not condemned the writers who were now condemned; and two of them,
Theodoret of Cyrus and Ibas of Edessa, had even appeared before it, and
been accepted as orthodox. Further, the condemnation was regarded
as a concession to the Monophysites who had been condemned at
Chalcedon, the writers in question having been peculiarly obnoxious to
the Monophysite party. And it does appear to be the case that a
main motive of the Emperor Justinian in forcing the condemnation of The
Three Chapters on the Church had been to conciliate the Monophysites,
and to induce them to conform. Hence Gregory’s anxiety to
shew that what had been done at the fifth did not touch the faith as
previously defined.
Epistle IV.
To Queen Theodelinda.
Gregory to Theodelinda, Queen of the
Lombards This letter
was not delivered to Theodelinda, Epistle XXXVIII. having been
afterwards substituted for it. See note 4 under Ep.
2.
It has come to our knowledge by the report of certain persons that your Glory has been led on by some bishops even to such an offence against holy Church as to withdraw yourself from the communion of Catholic unanimity. Now the more we sincerely love you, the more seriously are we distressed about you, that you believe unskilled and foolish men, who not only do not know what they talk about, but can hardly understand what they have heard.
For they say that in the times of Justinian of pious
memory, some things were ordained contrary to the council of Chalcedon;
and, while they neither read themselves nor believe those who do, they
remain in the same error which they themselves feigned to themselves
concerning us. For we, our conscience bearing witness, declare
that nothing was altered, nothing violated, with respect to the faith
of this same holy council of Chalcedon; but that whatever was done in
the times of the aforesaid Justinian was so done that the faith of the
council of Chalcedon should in no respect be disturbed. Further,
if any one presumes to speak or think anything contrary to the faith of
the said synod, we detest his
Epistle V.
To Boniface, Bishop.
Gregory to Boniface, Bishop of Regium (Reii).
It is a shame for priests to be admonished about
matters of divine worship. For they are then to their disgrace
required to do what they ought themselves to require to be done.
Yet lest, as I do not suppose, thy Fraternity should neglect in any
respect the things that pertain to the work of God, we have thought fit to exhort thee specially on this
very head. We therefore admonish thee that the clergy of the city
of Regium be to no extent released by the indulgence of thy Fraternity
in duties demanded by their office. But in the things that
pertain to God let them be most instantly and
most earnestly compelled. We desire thee also to study the
reputation of the aforesaid clergy, that nothing bad, nothing that at
all contravenes ecclesiastical discipline, be heard of them; seeing
that it is to its adornment, not to foulness of deeds, that their
office appertains. Further, we decree that what we determined in
the case of the Sicilians be observed by thy subdeacons See I. 44, p.
91; also below, Ep. 36.
Epistle VI.
To Cyprian, Deacon.
Gregory to Cyprian, Deacon and Rector of Sicily.
It has been reported to us that a native of the
province of Lucania, Petronilla by name, was converted Conversam,
with the usual sense of monastic profession.
Epistle VII.
To Gennadius, Patrician.
Gregory to Gennadius, Patrician and Exarch of Africa.
We are well assured that the mind of your religious
Excellency is inflamed with zeal of divine love against those things
especially which are done in unseemly wise in the churches. We
therefore the more gladly impose on you the correction of faults in
ecclesiastical cases as we have confidence in the bent of your pious
disposition. Be it known, then, to your Excellence that it has
been reported to us by some who have come to us
See II. 48, note
1.
Epistle VIII.
To Januarius, Bishop.
Gregory to Januarius, Bishop of Caralis (Cagliari).
We think indeed that thy position may in itself be
enough to compel thee to be instant in the fulfilment of pious
duties. But, lest remissness of any kind should intervene to
abate thy zeal, we have thought it right to exhort thee especially with
regard to them. Now it has come to our knowledge that your
Stephen, when departing this life, by his last will and testament
directed a monastery to be founded. But it is said that his
desire is so far unaccomplished owing to the delay of the honourable
lady Theodosia, his heiress. Wherefore we exhort thy Fraternity
to pay the utmost attention to this matter, and admonish the
above-named lady, to the end that within a year’s space she may
establish a monastery as has been directed, and construct everything
without dispute according to the will of the departed. But if she
should put off the completion of the design out of negligence or
artfulness (as, for instance, if she is unable to found it in the place
that had been appointed, and it is thought fit that it be placed
elsewhere, and the matter is neglected through the intervening delay),
then we desire that it be built by the diligence of thy Fraternity, and
that, all things being set in order, the effects and revenues that have
been left be appropriated by thee to this venerable place. For so
thou wilt both escape condemnation for remissness before the awful
Judge, and, in accordance with our most religious laws, wilt be
accomplishing with episcopal zeal the pious wishes of the departed,
which had been disregarded For subsequent
proceedings with regard to this intended monastery, see IV. 15; V.
2.
Epistle IX.
To Januarius, Bishop.
Gregory to Januarius, Bishop of Caralis (Cagliari).
Pastoral zeal ought indeed in itself to have sufficiently instigated thee, even without our aid, to protect profitably and providently the flock of which thou hast taken charge, and to preserve it with diligent circumspection from the cunning devices of enemies. But, since we have found that thy Charity needs also the written word of our authority for the augmentation of thy firmness, it is necessary for us, by the exhortation of brotherly love, to strengthen thy faltering disposition towards the earnestness of religious activity.
Now it has come to our knowledge that thou art
remiss in thy guardianship of the monasteries of the handmaidens of
God situated in Sardinia; and, though it had
been prudently arranged by thy predecessors that certain approved men
of the clergy should have the charge of attending to their needs, this
has now been so entirely neglected that women specially dedicated to
God are compelled to go in person among public
functionaries about tributes and other liabilities, and are under the
necessity of running to and fro through villages and farms for making
up their taxes, and of mixing themselves unsuitably in business which
belongs to men. This evil let thy Fraternity remove by an easy
correction; that is, by carefully deputing one man of approved life and
manners, and of such age and position as to give rise to no evil
suspicion of him, who may, with the fear of God, so assist the inmates of these monasteries that they
may no longer be allowed to wander, against rule, for any cause
whatever, private or public, beyond their venerable precincts; but that
whatever has to be done in their behalf may be transacted reasonably by
him whom you shall depute. But let the nuns themselves, rendering
praises to God and confining themselves to
their monasteries, no longer suggest any evil suspicion to the minds of
the faithful. But if any one of them, either through former
license, or through an evil custom of impunity, has
We also desire thee to hold councils of bishops twice in the year, as is said to have been the custom of thy province, as well as being ordered by the authority of the sacred canons; that, if any among them be of moral character inconsistent with his profession, he may be convicted by the friendly rebuke of his brethren, and also that measures may be taken with paternal circumspection for the security of the flock committed to him, and for the well-being of souls. It has come to our knowledge also that male and female slaves of Jews, who have fled for refuge to the Church on account of their faith, are either restored to their unbelieving masters, or paid for according to their value in lieu of being restored. We exhort therefore that thou by no means allow so bad a custom to continue; but that whosoever being a slave to Jews, shall have fled for refuge to venerable places, thou suffer him not in any degree to sustain prejudice. But, whether he had been a Christian before, or been baptized now, let him be supported in his claim for freedom, without any loss to the poor, by the patronage of ecclesiastical compassion.
Let not bishops presume to sign baptized infants a
second time on the forehead with chrism; but let the presbyters anoint
those who are to be baptized on the breast, that the bishops may
afterwards anoint them on the forehead For the meaning of
this order, and its subsequent modification, see note to IV. 26.
With regard also to founding monasteries, which
divers persons have ordered to be built, if thou perceivest that any
persons to whom the charge has been assigned put it off on unjust
pretexts, we desire thee to insist sagaciously according to what the
laws enjoin, lest (as God forbid should be the
case) the pious retentions of the departed should be frustrated through
thy neglect. Further, as to the monastery which Peter is said to
have formerly ordered to be constructed in his house, we have seen fit
that thy Fraternity should make accurate enquiry into the amount of the
revenues there. And in case of there being a suitable provision,
when all diminutions of the property and what is said to have been
dispersed have been recovered, let the monastery with all diligence and
without any delay be founded. But, if the means are insufficient
or detrimental The word
damnosa, meaning perhaps injuriously excessive.
Epistle X.
To All the Bishops of Dalmatia.
Gregory to all the bishops through
Dalmatia On the occasion of
this Epistle, see III. 47, note 2.
It behoved your Fraternity, having the eyes of the flesh closed out of regard to Divine judgment, to have omitted nothing that appertains to God and to a right inclination of mind, nor to have preferred the countenance of any man whatever to the uprightness of justice. But now that your manners have been so perverted by secular concerns, that, forgetting the whole path of the sacerdotal dignity that is yours, and all sense of heavenly fear, you study to accomplish what may please yourselves and not God, we have held it necessary to send you these specially strict written orders, whereby, with the authority of the blessed Peter, Prince of the apostles, we enjoin that you presume not to lay hands on any one whatever in the city of Salona, so far as regards ordination to episcopacy, without our consent and permission; nor to ordain any one in the same city otherwise than as we have said.
But if, either of your own accord, or under
compulsion from any one whatever, you should presume or attempt to do
anything contrary to this injunction, we shall decree you to be
deprived of participation of the Lord’s
body and blood, that so your very handling of the business, or your
very inclination to transgress our order, may cut you off from the
sacred mysteries, and no one may be accounted a bishop whom you may
ordain. For we wish
For we trust in Almighty God that, as far as in us lies, we may never suffer to be done what may damage our soul; never what may damage your Church. But, if the voluntary consent of all should so fix on one person that by the favour of God he may be proved worthy, and there should be no one to dissent from his being ordained, we wish him to be consecrated by you in this same church of Salona under the license granted in this present epistle; excepting notwithstanding the person of Maximus, about whom many evil reports have reached us: and, unless he desists from coveting the higher order, it remains, as I think, that after full enquiry, he should be deprived also of the very office which he now holds.
Epistle XI.
To Maximianus, Bishop.
Gregory to Maximianus, Bishop of Syracuse.
It had indeed been committed to thy Fraternity
long ago by our authority to correct in our stead any excesses or
unseemly proceedings that there might be in the Church and other
venerable places of Sicily See II. 7.
For we learn that in the case of revenues of
Churches that have been newly acquired the canonical disposition of
their fourth parts does not prevail For the canonical
rule as to the fourfold division of the Church funds, cf.
Gregory’s letter to Augustine, XI. 64 Responsio prima.
Permit not presbyters, deacons, and other clerks of whatever order, who serve churches, to be abbots of monasteries; but let them either, giving up clerical duties, be advanced to the monastic order, or, if they should decide to remain in the position of abbot, let them by no means be allowed to have clerical employment. For it is very unsuitable that, if one cannot fulfil the duties of either of these positions with diligence proportional to its importance, any one should be judged fit for both, and that so the ecclesiastical order should impede the monastic life, and in turn the rule of monasticism impede ecclesiastical utility. Of this thing also we have taken thought to warn thy Charity; that, if any one of the bishops should depart this life, or (which God forbid) should be removed for his transgressions, the hierarchs and all the chief of the clergy being assembled, and in thy presence making an inventory of the property of the Church, all that is found should be accurately described, and nothing should be taken away in kind, or in any other way whatever, from the property of the Church, as is said to have been done formerly, as though in return for the trouble of making the inventories. For we desire all that pertains to the protection of what belongs to the poor to be so executed that in their affairs no opportunity may be left for the venality of self-interested men.
Let visitors of churches, and their clerks who with them are at trouble in parishes that are not of their own city, receive according to thy appointment some subsidy for their labour. For it is just that they should get payment in the places where they are found to lend their services.
We most strongly forbid young women to be made abbesses. Let thy Fraternity, therefore, permit no bishop to veil any but a sexagenarian virgin, whose age and character may demand this being done; that so, this as well as the above-named points being set right with the Lord’s help by the urgency of thy strict requirement, thou mayest hasten to bind up again with canonical ties the long loosened state of venerable things, and also that divine affairs may be arranged, not by the incongruous wills of men, but with adequate strictness. The month of October, Indiction 12.
Epistle XV.
To Januarius, Bishop.
Gregory to Januarius, Bishop of Caralis (Cagliari).
Theodosia, a religious lady, being desirous of carrying
out the intention of her late husband
See also IV. 8, and
V. 2. The farm Piscenas
appears to have been held by the tenure called
Emphyteusis, according to which the possessor of
the land (called also Emphyteuta) was not its real owner,
though on condition of his cultivating it properly and paying certain
fixed dues to the owner (dominus), he had a perpetual right of
possession (jus in re), which passed to his heirs, and could be
sold by him to others. In the latter case, however, the
dominus had the option of himself buying up the
possessor’s right at the price offered by the proposed purchaser,
and he could object to the transference of possessio to persons
unable to maintain the property in good condition. In all cases
of transference, other than devolution to heirs, a fiftieth part of the
purchase money, or of the value of the property, was also payable to
the dominus. (Article on Emphyteusis in
Smith’s Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities.) In the
case before us the lord of the property seems to have refused his
consent to any part of it being alienated in Mortmain to a
monastery. It may be supposed that the possession of the farm
Piscenas had been in Stephen the testator himself when he directed a
monastery to be founded on it, and that it had passed after his death
into other hands.
Epistle XVIII.
To Maurus, Abbot.
Gregory to Maurus, &c.
The care of churches which is evidently inherent in the priestly office compels us to be so solicitous that no fault of neglect may appear with regard to them. Since, however, we have learnt that the church of Saint Pancratius, which had been committed to presbyters, has been frequently neglected, so that people coming there on the Lord’s day to celebrate the solemnities of mass have returned murmuring on finding no presbyter, we therefore, after mature deliberation, have determined to remove those presbyters, and with the favour of God constitute for the same church a congregation of monks in a monastery, to the end that the abbot who shall preside there may give care and attention in all respects to the aforesaid church. And we have also thought fit to put thee, Maurus, over this monastery as abbot, ordaining that the lands of the aforesaid church, and whatever may have come into its possession, or accrued from its revenues, be applied to this thy monastery, and belong to it without any diminution; but on condition whatever needs to be effected or repaired in the church above written may be so effected and repaired by thee without fail.
But lest, after the removal of the presbyters to
whom this church had previously been committed, it should seem to be
without provision for divine service, we therefore enjoin thee by the
tenour of this authority to supply it with a peregrine Peregrinum
presbyterum; meaning apparently one not belonging to the house as a
member of it, though living and maintained there.
But let this also above all be thy care, that there over the most sacred body of the blessed Pancratius the work of God be executed daily without fail. These things, then, which by the tenour of this precept we depute thee to do, we will that not only thou perform, but that they be also so observed and fulfilled for ever by those who shall succeed thee in thy office and place, that there may be no possibility henceforth of neglect being found in the aforesaid church.
Epistle XX.
To Maximus, Pretender
(Præsumptorem) See III. 47, note
2.
Gregory to Maximus, Pretender in Salona.
Though the merits of any one’s life were in
other respects such as to offer no impediment to his ordination to
priestly offices, yet the crime of canvassing in itself is condemned by
the severest strictness of the canons. Now we have been informed
that thou, having either obtained surreptitiously, or pretended, an
order from the most pious princes, hast forced thy way to the order of
priesthood Sacerdotii
ordinem, meaning here, as elsewhere, the order of episcopacy.
Epistle XXI.
To Venantius, Bishop.
Gregory to Venantius, Bishop of Luna (in Etruria).
It has reached us by the report of many that
Christian slaves are detained in servitude by Jews living in the city
of Luna On the holding
of Christian slaves by Jews, and the treatment of Jews generally, cf.
Proleg. p. xxi.
Epistle XXIII.
To Hospito, Duke of the Barbaricini The
Barbaricini appear to have been a native tribe in Sardinia, having its
own duke, Zabardas (see Ep. 24) being the duke of the
island.
Gregory to Hospito, &c.
Since no one of thy race is a Christian, I hereby
know that thou art better than all thy race, in that thou in it art
found to be a Christian. For, while all the Barbaricini live as
senseless animals, know not the true God, but
adore stocks and stones, in the very fact that thou worshippest the
true God thou shewest how much thou excellest
them all. But carry thou out the faith which thou hast received
in good deeds and words, and offer what is in thy power to Christ in
whom thou believest, so as to bring to Him as many as thou canst, and
cause them to be baptized, and admonish them to set their affection on
eternal life. And if perchance thou canst not do this thyself,
being otherwise occupied, I beg thee, with my greeting, to succour in
all ways our men whom we have sent to your parts, to wit my
fellow-bishop Felix, and my son, the servant of God, Cyriacus These two
ecclesiastics had been sent into Sardinia to promote the conversion of
the natives, which seems to have been remissly attended to, not only by
the Christian lay proprietors, but also by the bishops of the
island. See below, Epp. 25, 26. The bishop Felix was
not commissioned to supercede the ordinary episcopal jurisdiction, but
to act as a missionary bishop in aid. Cf. V. 41. Benedictio,
here as elsewhere, means a present;—in this case, being said to
be from St. Peter, containing doubtless something that had acquired
sanctity from him; probably, as in other cases, filings from his
chains. Cf. I. 26, note 3.
To Zabardas, Duke of Sardinia.
Gregory to Zabardas, &c.
From the letters of my brother and fellow-bishop
Felix, and of the servant of God, Cyriacus, we
have learnt your Glory’s good qualities. And we give great
thanks to mighty God, that Sardinia has got
such a duke; one who so knows how to do his duty to the republic in
earthly matters as to know also how to exhibit to Almighty God dutiful regard for the heavenly country. For
they have written to me that you are arranging terms of peace with the
Barbaricini on such conditions as to bring these same Barbaricini to
the service of Christ. On this account I rejoice exceedingly,
and, should it please Almighty God, will
speedily notify your gifts to our most serene princes. Do you,
therefore, accomplish what you have begun, shew the devotion of your
heart to Almighty God, and help to the utmost
of your power those whom we have sent to your parts for the conversion
of the Barbaricini See preceding
Epistle.
Epistle XXV.
To the Nobles and Proprietors in Sardinia.
Gregory to the Nobles, &c.
I have learnt from the report of my brother and
fellow-bishop Felix, and my son the servant of God, Cyriacus See above,
Ep. 23. As to
rustici, or coloni, see I. 44, note 1. Cf. IV. 23, note
8.
Epistle XXVI.
To Januarius, Bishop.
Gregory to Januarius, Bishop of Caralis (Cagliari).
We have ascertained from the report of our fellow-bishop Felix and the abbot Cyriacus that in the island of Sardinia priests are oppressed by lay judges, and that thy ministers despise thy Fraternity; and that, so far as appears, while you aim only at simplicity, discipline is neglected. Wherefore I exhort thee that, putting aside all excuses, thou take pains to rule the Church of which thou hast received the charge, to keep up discipline among the clergy, and fear no one’s words. But, as I hear, thou hast forbidden thy Archdeacon to live with women, and up to this time art set at naught with regard to this thy prohibition. Unless he obey thy command, our will is that he be deprived of his sacred order.
There is another thing also which is much to be
deplored; namely, that the negligence of your Fraternity has allowed
the peasants (rusticos) belonging to holy Church to remain
up to the present time in infidelity. And what is the use of my
admonishing you to bring such as do not belong to you to God, if you neglect to recover your own from
infidelity? Hence you must needs be in all ways vigilant for
their conversion. For, should I succeed in finding a pagan
peasant belonging to any
But now, if any peasant should be found so
perfidious and obstinate as to refuse to come to the Lord God, he must be weighted
with so great a burden of payment as to be compelled by the very pain
of the exaction to hasten to the right way The rustici,
or coloni, who cultivated the land, made their living out of it,
having to pay dues in money or in kind (see I. 44).
Gregory’s suggestion is that such dues should be made so heavy in
the case of natives who refused to be converted as to starve them into
compliance. Elsewhere we find him deprecating compulsion, or any
kind of persecution, for the conversion of Jews and heretics, on the
ground that forced conversions were unreal. But he appears to
have had no such compunctions in the case of these illiterate
pagans. This is not the only instance of religious zeal betraying
him into a certain human inconsistency. Cf. IX. 65.
It has also come to our knowledge that some in sacred orders who have lapsed, either after doing penance or before, are recalled to the office of their ministry; which is a thing that we have altogether forbidden and the most sacred canons also declare against it. Whoso, then, after having received any sacred order, shall have lapsed into sin of the flesh, let him so forfeit his sacred order as not to approach any more the ministry of the altar. But, lest those who have been ordained should ever perish, previous care should be taken as to what kind of people are ordained, so that it be first seen to whether they have been continent in life for many years, and whether they have had a care for reading and a love of almsgiving. It should be enquired also whether a man has perchance been twice married. It should also be seen to that he be not illiterate, or under liability to the state, so as to be compelled after assuming a sacred order to return to public employment. All these things therefore let your Fraternity diligently enquire into, that, every one having been ordained after diligent examination, none may be easily liable to be deposed after ordination. These things which we have written to your Fraternity do you make known to all the bishops under you, since I myself have been unwilling to write to them, lest I might seem to lessen your dignity.
It has also come to our ears that some have been
offended by our having forbidden presbyters to touch with chrism those
who are to be baptized. And we indeed acted according to the
ancient use of our Church: but, if any are in fact hereby
distressed, we allow that, where there is a lack of bishops, presbyters
may touch with chrism, even on their foreheads, those who are to be
baptized See above, IV. 9.
There is some doubt as to what the practice was which Gregory had
forbidden in his former epistle but now allows. In Ep. IX. he had
said, “Episcopi baptizatos infantes signare bis in fronte
chrismate non præsumant; sed presbyteri baptizandos ungant in
pectore, ut episcopi postmodum ungere debeant in fronte.”
There is obvious reference here to the two unctions, before and after
baptism. The first, in preparation for baptism, was with simple
oil, on the breast and other parts of the body, and was administered by
presbyters both in the East and West: the second for confirmation
after baptism, was with chrism (a mixture of oil and balsam), on the
forehead, and in the Eastern Churches might be, as it still is,
administered immediately after baptism by the baptizing presbyter, but
in the West was usually reserved for the bishop in person. It
would seem that in Sardinia the Eastern usage had been followed with
regard to the presbyter signing the baptized child on the forehead with
chrism immediately after baptism, but that it had been also customary
for the bishop afterward to repeat the rite (“signare bis in
fronte chrismate”). Such repetition Gregory, in Ep. IX.,
appears to forbid in cases where the presbyter had already administered
the rite; but, in the second clause of the sentence, he directs that
the Western usage should thenceforth be observed: the presbyter
who baptized was to anoint on the breast before the baptism; but the
bishop, and he alone, on the forehead with chrism afterwards.
Such being the most obvious meaning of what is said in Ep. IX. the
equally obvious meaning of the concession in Ep. XXVI. would be
allowance for presbyters in the absence of bishops, to confirm with
chrism after baptism, according to the Eastern usage, but for the fact
that the expression now used is not baptizatos, but
baptizandos. Hence one opinion is that all that is
here allowed to presbyters is the anointing of the forehead with
chrism, as well as the breast with oil, previously to baptism;
in which case of course it would not be confirmation. But it
seems more likely that the intention was to allow presbyters to
administer confirmation in the absence of bishops, the term
baptizandos being used loosely to denote candidates for
baptism. The fact that it is only where bishops could not be had
(ubi desunt episcopi) that the practice is allowed adds
probability to this view; and also his saying that in his previous
prohibition he had been following the ancient custom of the Roman
Church, which was to reserve the signing the forehead with chrism after
baptism, i.e. confirmation, to the bishop. Innocent I.
(Ep. i. ad. Decent. c. iii.) lays down the rule thus;
“Presbyteris, qui, seu extra episcopum seu pæesente
episcopo, baptizant, chrismate baptizatos ungere licet, sed quod ab
episcopo fuerit consecratum; non tamen frontem ex eodem oleo signare,
quod solis debetur episcopis, quum tradunt Spiritum Sanctum
Paracletum.” Here, we observe, the usage of the Roman
Church allows the baptizing presbyter to anoint with chrism after
baptism, only not therewith to sign the forehead for actual
confirmation; and this is still the Roman usage. It should be
observed further that in all cases, in the East as well in the West,
confirmation was regarded as belonging peculiarly to the Bishop’s
office, the chrism used having always been consecrated by him, though
it might be applied by presbyters: and thus Gregory, in allowing
presbyters to administer the rite in Sardinia, would not regard any
essential principle of Church order as being infringed. He only
shews the same wise liberality as we find evidence of in other cases,
allowing varieties of usage in various churches, where no important
principle seemed to be involved. Thus he approves of single
instead of triune immersion in baptism being practised in Spain (I.
43), and bids Augustine in England adopt according to his discretion
the customs of other Churches (XI. 64). With regard to the
essential form of confirmation recognized in the time of
Gregory, it appears evidently from these epistles to have been
unction, and not mere imposition of hands. It is also
evident that it was administered, as in the East now, to infants; cf.
XIII. 18, where the phrase is “ad consignandos
imantes.”
Epistle XXVII.
To Januarius, Bishop.
Gregory to Januarius, Bishop of Caralis (Cagliari).
Thy Fraternity ought indeed to have been so attentive to pious duties as to be in no need at all of our admonitions to induce thee to fulfil them: yet, as certain particulars that require correction have come to our knowledge, there is nothing incongruous in your having besides a letter addressed to you bearing our authority.
Wherefore we apprize you that we have been given
to understand that it has been the custom for the Guest-houses
(Xenodochia) constituted in the parts about Caralis to submit
their accounts in detail from time to time to the bishop of the city;
that is, so as to be governed under his guardianship and
care.
For what was meant by
religiosi and religiosæ, see I. 61, note 7. It
appears from what is said here that persons recognized as such were
ordinarily exempt from certain claims upon them by the state to which
others might be liable.
Moreover, thou knowest that the bearer of these presents, Epiphanius the presbyter, was criminally accused in the letters of certain Sardinians. We, then, having investigated his case as it was our will to do, and finding no proof of what was charged against him, have absolved him, so that he might be restored to his place. We therefore desire thee to search out the authors of the charge against him: and, unless he who sent those same letters be prepared to support his charges by canonical and most strict proofs, let him on no account approach the mystery of holy communion.
Further, as to Paul the cleric, who is said to have been often detected in malpractices, and who had fled into Africa, having returned to a lay state of life in despite of his cloth, if it is so, we have seen to his being given up to penance after previous corporal punishment, to the end that, according to the apostolic sentence, by means of affliction of the flesh the spirit may be saved, and also that he may be able to wash away with continual tears the earthly filth of sin, which he is said to have contracted by wicked works.
Moreover, in accordance with the injunctions of the canons, let no religious person (religiosus) associate with those who have been suspended from ecclesiastical communion.
Further, for ordinations or marriages of clerics, or from virgins who are veiled, let no one presume to receive any fee, unless they should prefer to offer something of their own accord.
As to what should be done in the case of women who have left monasteries for a lay life, and have taken husbands, we have conversed at length with thy Fraternity’s aforesaid presbyter, from whose report your Holiness may be more fully informed.
Further, let religious clerics (religiosi
clerici) For the meaning of
religiosi, see I. 61, n. 7. They were not of necessity
clerici. In X. 54, we find religioso laico.
Lastly, as to the men who have sinned with the aforesaid women who had left their monasteries, and are said to be now suspended from communion, if thy Fraternity should observe them to have repented worthily for such a wickedness, we will that thou restore them to holy communion.
Epistle XXIX.
To Januarius, Bishop.
Gregory to Januarius, Bishop of Caralis (Cagliari).
It has come to our knowledge that in the place within the province of Sardinia called Phausiana it is said to have been once the custom to ordain a bishop; but that, through stress of circumstances, the custom has for long fallen into disuse. But, as we are aware that now, owing to scarcity of priests, certain pagans remain there, living like wild beasts, and entirely ignorant of the worship of God, we exhort thy Fraternity to make haste to ordain a bishop there according to the ancient way; such a one, that is, as may be suitable for this work, and may take pains to bring wanderers into the Lord’s flock with pastoral zeal; that so, while he devotes himself there to the saving of souls, neither may you be found to have required what was superfluous, nor may we repent of having re-established in vain what had been once discontinued.
Epistle XXX.
To Constantina Augusta.
Gregory to Constantina, &c.
The Serenity of your Piety, conspicuous for religious
zeal and love of holiness, has charged me with your commands to send to
you the head of Saint Paul, or some other part of his body, for the
church which is being built in honour of the same Saint Paul in the
palace. And, being desirous of receiving commands from you, by
exhibiting the most ready obedience to which I might the more provoke
your favour towards me, I am all the more distressed that I neither can
nor dare do what you enjoin. For the bodies of the apostles
Besides all this, when my predecessor, of holy
memory, was desiring in like manner to make some improvements not far
from the body of Saint Laurence the martyr, it not being known where
the venerable body was laid, diggings were made in the course of
search, and suddenly his sepulchre was unawares disclosed; and those
who were present and working, monks and mansionarii
“Mansionarius. Sacristain
d’une église, chargé de la garder, de sonner les
cloches pour l’office divin, de préparer les
reliquaires, etc.” D’Arnis.
Moreover, let my most tranquil lady know that it is not the custom of the Romans, when they give relics of saints, to presume to touch any part of the body; but only a cloth (brandeum) is put into a box (pyxide), and placed near the most sacred bodies of the saints: and when it is taken up it is deposited with due reverence in the Church that is to be dedicated, and such powerful effects are thereby produced there as might have been if their bodies had been brought to that special place. Whence it came to pass in the times of Pope Leo, of blessed memory, as has been handed down from our forefathers, that, certain Greeks being in doubt about such relics, the aforesaid pontiff took scissors and cut this same cloth (brandeum), and from the very incision blood flowed. For in the Roman and all the Western parts it is unendurable and sacrilegious for any one by any chance to desire to touch the bodies of saints: and, if one should presume to do this, it is certain that this temerity will by no means remain unpunished. For this reason we greatly wonder at the custom of the Greeks, who say that they take up the bones of saints; and we scarcely believe it. For certain Greek monks who came here more than two years ago dug up in the silence of night near the church of Saint Paul, bodies of dead men lying in the open field, and laid up their bones to be kept in their own possession till their departure. And, when they were taken and diligently examined as to why they did this, they confessed that they were going to carry those bones to Greece to pass for relics of saints. From this instance, as has been already said, the greater doubt has been engendered in us whether it be true that they really take up the bones of saints, as they are said to do.
But what shall I say of the bodies of the blessed apostles, when it is well known that, at the time when they suffered, believers came from the East to recover their bodies as being those of their own countrymen? And, having been taken as far as the second milestone from the city, they were deposited in the place which is called Catacumbas. But, when the whole multitude came together and endeavoured to remove them thence, such violence of thunder and lightning terrified and dispersed them that they on no account presumed to attempt such a thing again. And then the Romans, who of the Lord’s loving-kindness were counted worthy to do this, went out and took up their bodies, and laid them in the places where they are now deposited.
Who then, most serene lady, can there be so venturesome as, knowing these things, to presume, I do not say to touch their bodies, but even at all to look at them? Such orders therefore having been given me by you, which I could by no means have obeyed, it has not, so far as I find, been of your own motion; but certain men have wished to stir up your Piety against me, so as to withdraw from me (which God forbid) the favour of your good will, and have therefore sought out a point in which I might be found as if disobedient to you. But I trust in Almighty God that your most kind good will is in no way being stolen away from me, and that you will always have with you the power of the holy apostles, whom with all your heart and mind you love, not from their bodily presence, but from their protection.
Moreover, the napkin, which you have likewise ordered to
be sent you, is with his body, and so cannot be touched, as his body
cannot be approached. But since so religious a desire of my most
serene lady ought not to be wholly unsatisfied, I will make haste to
transmit to you some portion of the chains which Saint
Epistle XXXI.
To Theodorus, Physician.
Gregory to Theodorus, Physician to the Emperor.
I myself give thanks to Almighty God, that distance does not separate the hearts of those
who truly love each other mutually. For lo, most sweet and
glorious son, we are far apart in body, and yet are present with each
other in charity. This your works, this your letters testify,
this I experienced in you when present, this I recognize in your Glory
when absent. May this make you both beloved of men and worthy for
ever before Almighty God. For, charity
being the mother of virtues, you bring forth the fruits of good works
for this reason that you keep in your soul the very root of those
fruits. Now what you have sent me, God
inspiring you, for the redemption of captives, I confess that I have
received both with joy and with sorrow. With joy, that is, for
you, whom I thus perceive to be preparing a mansion in the heavenly
country; but with exceeding sorrow for myself, who, over and above my
care of the property of the holy apostle Peter, must now also give an
account of the property of my most sweet son, the Lord Theodorus, and be held responsible for having spent
it carefully or negligently. But may Almighty God, who has poured into your mind the bowels of His own
mercy, who has granted to you to take anxious thought for what is said
of our Saviour by the excellent preacher—That, though he was
rich, yet for us he became poor (
As to what you say you desire to be done for you
near the most sacred body of the holy apostle Peter, be assured that,
though your tongue were silent, your charity bids the doing of
it. Would indeed that we were worthy to pray for you: but
that I am not worthy I have no doubt. Still, however, there are
here many worthy folk, who are being redeemed from the enemy by your
offering, and serve our Creator faithfully, with regard to whom you
have done what is written; Lay up alms in the bosom of the poor, and
it shall pray for thee (
But, since he loves the more who presumes the more, I have some complaint against the most sweet disposition of my most glorious son the Lord Theodorus; namely that he has received from the holy Trinity the gift of genius, the gift of wealth, the gift of mercy and charity, and yet is unceasingly bound up in secular causes, is occupied in continual processions, and neglects to read daily the words of his Redeemer. For what is sacred Scripture but a kind of epistle of Almighty God to His creature? And surely, if your Glory were resident in any other place, and were to receive letters from an earthly emperor, you would not loiter, you would not rest, you would not give sleep to your eyes, till you had learnt what the earthly emperor had written.
The Emperor of Heaven, the Lord of men and angels, has sent thee his epistles for thy life’s behoof; and yet, glorious son, thou neglectest to read these epistles ardently. Study then, I beseech thee, and daily meditate on the words of thy Creator. Learn the heart of God in the words of God, that thou mayest sigh more ardently for the things that are eternal, that your soul may be kindled with greater longings for heavenly joys. For a man will have the greater rest here in proportion as he has now no rest in the love of his Maker. But, that you may act thus, may Almighty God pour into you the Spirit the Comforter: may He fill your soul with His presence, and in filling it, compose it.
As to me, know ye that I suffer here many and innumerable bitternesses. But I give thanks to Almighty God that I suffer far less than I deserve.
I commend to your Glory my son, your patient, the
lord Narses. I know indeed that you hold him as in all respects
commended to you; but I beg you to do what you are doing, that, in
asking for what I see is being done, I may by my asking have a share in
your reward. Furthermore, I have received the blessing Benedictionem
in the sense of a present, as elsewhere in the
epistles. Cf.
Epistle XXXII.
To Narses the Patrician.
Gregory to Narses, &c.
Your most sweet Charity has said much to me in
your letters in praise of my good deeds, to all which I briefly reply,
Call me not Noemi, that is beautiful; but call me Mara, that is
bitter; for I am full of bitterness (
But as to the cause of the presbyters Probably Athanasius
and John. See III. 53.
As to what your Charity has written to me, asking
me to give thanks for you to my son the chief physician and
ex-præfect Theodorus, I have done so, and have by no means ceased
to commend you as much as I could. Further, I beg you to pardon
me for replying to your letters with brevity; for I am pressed by such
great tribulations that it is not allowed me either to read or to speak
much by letter. This only I say to thee, For the voice of
groaning I have forgotten to eat my bread ( In English
Bible, cii. 4.
Epistle XXXIII.
To Anthemius, Subdeacon.
Gregory to Anthemius, &c.
Those whom our Redeemer vouchsafes to convert to himself from Judaical perdition we ought, with reasonable moderation, to assist; lest (as God forbid should be the case) they should suffer from lack of food. Accordingly we charge thee, under the authority of this order, not to neglect to give money every year to the children of Justa, who is of the Hebrews; that is to Julianus, Redemptus, and Fortuna, beginning from the coming thirteenth Indiction; and know that the payment is by all means to be charged in thy accounts.
Epistle XXXIV.
To Pantaleo, Præfect.
Gregory to Pantaleo, Præfect of Africa.
How the law urgently prosecutes the most
abominable pravity of heretics is not unknown to your
Excellency As to imperial
edicts against the African Donatists, see I. 74, note 8. It would
seem from this and the following letter that enforcement of the laws
for their repression had been relaxed of late. It will be
observed from this and other instances that Gregory, though often in
general terms deprecating the use of force in matters of faith, did not
scruple, when occasion arose, to call in the aid of the secular arm;
and in this case with some heat and acrimony. Cf. IV. 35,
below. This Paul was one
of the bishops of Numidia, against whom some charges of misconduct, not
specified, had been brought. His case has some significance as
shewing that, though the spiritual authority of the bishop of Rome over
the Church in Africa had now come to be acknowledged in a way that it
had not been in the age of Cyprian, yet there seems to have been still
some resistance to its exercise. This appears also from the fact
that it was not the primate of Numidia, but Columbus, a bishop notable
for his devotion to the Roman See, that Gregory mainly and most
confidentially corresponded with in relation to ecclesiastical affairs
(see II. 48, note 1), and that this Columbus complained of being in
disfavour with many on the ground of the frequent communications he
received from Rome (VII. 2). In the case before us
Gregory’s desire (urgently expressed in this letter to Pantaleo,
and in that which follows to the primate and Columbus, jointly), that
Paul should at once be sent to Rome for trial was not complied
with. For two years later (VI. 63) Gregory complains of this, and
also expresses surprize that the accused bishop should have been
excommunicated by the African authorities, and no news sent thereof to
himself by the primate. Then, in the following year (VII. 2),
writing to Columbus, he finds himself unable to refuse his assent to
Paul’s resorting to Constantinople to lay his case before the
Emperor. However in the year after this it seems that he did go
at length to Rome, but not so as to have his case decided there:
for Gregory sends him back to Africa to have his case inquired into,
only enjoining Columbus, to whom he writes, to do his utmost to see
justice done, he himself believing the accused to be innocent, and
attributing the charges against him to odium incurred by his measures
against the Donatists. The final issue does not appear. See
also XII. 8.
Epistle XXXV.
To Victor and Columbus, Bishops Victor was now
primate of Numidia, having succeeded Adeodatus (see III. 49). As
to the African custom with respect to primates, see I. 74, note
9. For notice of Columbus, see II. 48, note 7.
Gregory to Victor and Columbus, Bishops of Africa.
After what manner a disease, if neglected in its beginning, acquires strength we have proved from our own necessities, whosoever of us have had our lot in this life. If, then, it were met by the foresight of skilful physicians at its birth, we know that it would cease before doing very much harm from being attended to too late. On this consideration, then, reason ought to impel us, when diseases of souls are beginning, to make haste to resist them by all the means in our power, lest, while we neglect applying wholesome medicines, they steal away from us the lives of many whom we are striving to win for our God. Wherefore it behoves us so with watchful carefulness to guard the folds of sheep which we see ourselves to be put over as keepers that the prowling wolf may find everywhere shepherds to resist him, and may have no way of entrance thereinto.
For indeed we find that the stings of the Donatists have in your parts so disturbed the Lord’s flock, as though it were guided by no shepherd’s control. And there has been reported to us what we cannot speak of without heavy sorrow, seeing that very many have already been torn by their poisoned teeth. Lastly, in order with most wicked audacity to drive catholic priests from their churches, they are said, in their most atrocious wickedness, even to have slain many besides, on whom the water of regeneration had conferred salvation, by rebaptizing them. All this saddens our mind exceedingly, for that, while you are placed there, it has been allowed to damned presumption to perpetrate such wickedness.
In this matter we exhort your Fraternity by this present writing, that, after discussion held and a council assembled, you should eagerly and with all your power so oppose this still nascent disease that neither may it acquire strength from neglect nor scatter the woes of pestilence in the flock committed to your charge. For, if in any way whatever (as we do not believe will be the case) you neglect to resist iniquity in its beginning, they will wound very many with the sword of their error. And it is in truth a most serious thing to allow to be ensnared in the noose of diabolical fraud those whom we are able to rescue beforehand from being entangled. Moreover it is better to prevent any one from being wounded than to search out how one that is wounded may be healed. Considering this, therefore, hasten ye by sedulous prayer and all the means in your power, to quell sacrilegious wickedness, so that subsequent news, through the aid of the grace of Christ, may cause us more joy for the punishment of those men than sadness for their excesses.
Furthermore, take all possible pains to send to us
with all speed our brother and fellow-bishop Paul See Last Epistle, note
4.
Epistle XXXVI.
To Leo, Bishop.
Gregory to Leo, Bishop of Catana Catana was one of the
sees in Sicily.
We have found from the report of many that a
custom has of old obtained among you, for subdeacons to be allowed to
have intercourse with their wives. That any one should any more
presume to do this was prohibited by the servant of God, the deacon of our see, under the authority of our
predecessor This order had
been given by pope Pelagius II. a.d.
588. In I. 44 Gregory had seen fit to relax the stringency of
this order in the case of existing subdeacons who had not on their
ordination pledged themselves to chastity.
If, then, you find the truth to be as we have been informed, it is right for you to release altogether the aforesaid woman from the monastery, that she may be at liberty to return without any fear to her husband.
But for the future let thy Fraternity be exceedingly careful, in the case of any who may be promoted to this office, to look to this with the utmost diligence, that, if they have wives, they shall enjoy no licence to have intercourse with them: but you must still strictly order them to observe all things after the pattern of the Apostolic See.
Epistle XXXVIII.
To Queen Theodelinda.
Gregory to Theodelinda, Queen of the
Lombards This letter was
substituted for Ep. IV. which had been previously written, but not
delivered. See note 4 under Epistle II. above.
It has come to our knowledge from the report of certain persons that your Glory has been led on by some bishops even to the offence against holy Church of suspending yourself from the communion of Catholic unanimity. Now the more we sincerely love you, the more seriously are we distressed about you, that you believe unskilled and foolish men, who not only do not know what they talk about, but can hardly understand what they have heard; who, while they neither read themselves, nor believe those who do, remain in the same error which they have themselves feigned to themselves concerning us. For we venerate the four holy synods; the Nicene, in which Arius, the Constantinopolitan, in which Macedonius, the first Ephesine, in which Nestorius, and the Chalcedonians, in which Eutyches and Dioscorus, were condemned; declaring that whosoever thinks otherwise than these four synods did is alien from the true faith. We also condemn whomsoever they condemn, and absolve whomsoever they absolve, smiting, with interposition of anathema, any one who presumes to add to or take away from the faith of the same four synods, and especially that of Chalcedon, with respect to which doubt and occasion of superstition has arisen in the minds of certain unskilled men.
Seeing, then, that you know the integrity of our faith from my plain utterance and profession, it is right that you should have no further scruple of doubt with respect to the Church of the blessed Peter, Prince of the apostles: but persist ye in the true faith, and make your life firm on the rock of the Church; that is on the confession of the blessed Peter, Prince of the apostles, lest all those tears of yours and all those good works should come to nothing, if they are found alien from the true faith. For as branches dry up without the virtue of the root, so works, to whatsoever degree they may seem good, are nothing, if they are disjoined from the solidity of the faith.
It therefore becomes your Glory to send a communication with all speed to our most reverend brother and fellow-bishop Constantius, of whose faith and life I have long been well assured, and to signify by your letters addressed to him how kindly you accept his ordination, and that you are in no wise separated from the communion of his Church, so that we may truly rejoice with a common exultation, as for a good and faithful daughter. Know also that you and your works will please God, if, before his assize comes, they be approved by the judgment of his priests.
Epistle XXXIX.
To Constantius, Bishop.
Gregory to Constantius, Bishop of Mediolanum (Milan).
Having read the letter of your Holiness, we find
that you are in a state of serious distress, principally on account of
the bishops and citizens of Briscia (Brescia) who bid you send
them a letter in which you are asked to swear that you have not
condemned the Three Chapters See above, Epistle
II., note 1. Cautionis
suæ, as to the meaning of which expression, see above, Epistle
II., note 2. It appears certain from what Gregory says, here and
in Epistle II., that Laurentius, the predecessor of Constantius, had
pledged himself by oath to the bishop of Rome to uphold the
condemnation of “The Three Chapters.” But it seems
that some of his suffragans now asserted that he had sworn to them that
he had not assented to such condemnation, and that on this
understanding they had remained in his communion. Gregory does
not seem certain how the matter stood: but he goes on the
supposition that he could not have perjured himself as the bishops
alleged. See above, Ep. II.,
note 4.
Further, as to what you write about many of them being offended because you name our brother and fellow-bishop John of the Church of Ravenna during the solemnities of mass, you should enquire into the ancient custom; and, if it has been the custom, it ought not now to be found fault with by foolish men. But, if it has not been the custom, a thing ought not to be done at which some may possibly take offence. Yet I have been at pains to make careful enquiry whether the same John our brother and fellow-bishop names you at the altar; and they say that this is not done. And, if he does not make mention of your name, I know not what necessity obliges you to make mention of his. If indeed it can be done without any one taking offence, your doing anything of this kind is very laudable, since you shew the charity you have towards your brethren.
Further, as to what you write of your having been
unwilling to transmit my letter to Queen Theodelinda on the ground that
the fifth synod was named in it, if you believed that she might thereby
be offended, you did right in not transmitting it. We are
therefore doing now as you recommend, namely, that we should only
express approval of the four synods. Yet, as to the synod which
was afterwards held in Constantinople, called by many the fifth, I
would have you know that it neither ordained nor held anything in
opposition to the four most holy synods, seeing that nothing was done
in it with respect to the faith, but only with respect to persons; and
persons, too, about whom nothing is contained in the acts of the
Council of Chalcedon Here Gregory is in
error, for in the eighth, ninth, and tenth sessions of the council of
Chalcedon Theodoret and Ibas, whose writings were anathematized in that
fifth council, were heard in their own defence, and definitely
acquitted of heresy. It is true that there is no mention of them
in the Definition of faith, agreed upon in the fifth session of
Chalcedon, or in the Canons which were perhaps all that Gregory had
before him. It is true also that there was no reference at
Chalcedon to Theodore of Mopsuestia, who was especially and personally
anathematized at the fifth council, he having died many years before
the council of Chalcedon was held. But the cases of Theodoret and
Ibas had been prominently before the synod; and this not, as Gregory
here goes on to intimate, in a supplementary sort of way at the end of
the main proceedings: for the eighth, ninth, and tenth sessions
had been occupied with them, after which there had been other
sessions. For similar inaccuracy on Gregory’s part in
referring to past events, see II. 51, note 2; and for an instance of
his imperfect acquaintance with the history of past controversies, see
VII. 4. Concerning this
Fortunatus, see also V. 4.
Epistle XLVI.
To Rusticiana, Patrician.
Gregory to Rusticiana, &c.
On receiving your Excellency’s letters I was
glad to hear that you had reached Mount Sinai. But believe me, I
too should have liked to go with you, but by no means to return with
you. And yet I find it very difficult to believe that you have
been at the holy places and seen many Fathers. For I believe
that, if you had seen them, you would by no means have been able to
return so speedily to the city of Constantinople. But now that
the love of such a city has in no wise departed from your heart, I
suspect that your Excellency did not from the heart devote yourself to
the holy things which you saw with the bodily eye. But may
Almighty God illuminate your mind by the grace
of His lovingkindness and give unto you to be wise, and to consider how
fugitive are all temporal things, since, while we are thus speaking,
both time runs on and the Judge approaches, and lo the moment is even
now near when against our will we must give up the world which of our
own accord we will not. I beg that the
The word
angaria, which is of frequent occurrence, denotes exactions and
forced services of various kinds.
Epistle XLVII.
To Sabinianus, Deacon He was the
pope’s apocrisiarius at Constantinople.
Gregory to Sabinianus, &c.
Thou knowest what has been done in the case of the
prevaricator Maximus See III. 47, note
2. In his letter to
Maximus (IV. 20), Gregory had only expressed a suspicion that the
alleged order of the Emperor for his consecration had been
fictitious. He now seems to have satisfied himself that it was
so. For a review of the whole case, see III. 47, note 2. Romanus Patricius
was the Exarch of Italy. See I. 33; II. 46; III. 31; V. 24.
But it has come to my ears that he has sent [to
Constantinople] a cleric, I know not whom, to say that the bishop
Malchus See II. 20, note
5.
Epistle II.
To Felix, Bishop, and Cyriacus, Abbot They had been sent
by Gregory into Sardinia with the special purpose of promoting the
conversion of the natives, which had been neglected by the bishops and
clergy of the island. See V. 41, and IV. 23, note 8.
Gregory to Felix, &c.
The tenor of the report submitted to you
sufficiently explains the complaint of the religious lady Theodosia, in
which we have found on reading it many heads of accusation, not
befitting priestly gentleness, against our brother and fellow-bishop
Januarius; so much so that, after the foundation by her of a monastery
for servants of God, all that pertains to
avarice, turbulence, and wrong is said to have been exhibited at the
time of the very dedication of the oratory. Wherefore, if the
case is as we find in her aforesaid representation, and if you are
aware that anything at all unbecoming has been committed besides, we
exhort you that, all wrongs having first been redressed, you press upon
Musicus, the abbot of the monastery of Agilitanus Apparently the
designation of the monastery which had been now at length founded by
Theodosia in execution of her late husband’s will. See
above, IV. 8, 15. In IV. 15, Gregory had acceded to her desire in
view of certain difficulties in carrying out her husband’s
intention, to found a nunnery in a house of her own at Cagliari.
But it seems that a monastery of monks had in the end been founded.
Epistle IV.
To Constantius, Bishop.
Gregory to Constantius, Bishop of Mediolanum (Milan).
If licence to be restored to their rank be granted to the lapsed, the force of ecclesiastical discipline is undoubtedly broken, while in the hope of restoration each person fears not to give way to his evil inclinations. Your Fraternity, for instance, has consulted us as to whether Amandinus, ex-presbyter and ex-abbot, who was deposed by your predecessor for fault requiring it, should be called back to his rank; which thing is not allowable; and we decree that it cannot on any account be done. Yet, if it should be the case that his manner of life deserves it, seeing that he has been deprived altogether of his sacred office, assign him a place in a monastery, as you may see fit, before other monks. Above all things, then, take care that no one’s supplication persuade you in any way to restore the lapsed to their sacred orders, lest such punishment should be supposed not to be definitely ordained for them, but only a temporary expedient.
As to Vitalianus the ex-presbyter, about whom you write that he should be strictly guarded, we will cause him to be sent into Sicily, that, being deprived of all hope of departure thence, he may then at least constrain himself to penitential bewailing. Jobinus also, of Portus Veneris, once deacon and abbot, we have decreed to be deprived of his office, and written that another should be ordained in his place. In like manner also we decree that the three subdeacons, whom your Fraternity has notified to us as having lapsed, shall ever cease from and stand deprived of their office, and that nothing beyond lay communion be allowed them. Further, we have adjudged the ex-presbyter Saturninus to give security that he will not ever presume to approach the ministry of his sacred order. And we desire him to remain, with deprivation of his sacred order, in the same island in which he was, permitting him to have and exercise care and solicitude with respect to monasteries; for we believe that, his lapse having made him more wary, he will now the more carefully keep guard over those who are committed to him.
Further, concerning John, notary of your church, the
charity wherewith we love you and have long loved you warns us to
write, lest you should order anything with regard
Furthermore, the epistle of your most dear
Fraternity has caused us to wonder much with respect to the person of
Fortunatus See IV. 39.
Epistle V.
To Dominicus, Bishop.
Gregory to Dominicus, Bishop of Carthage.
Prosper your delegate (responsalis), the
bearer of these presents, has been with us, and after other expressions
of your charity handed us your second letters with an allegation of the
imperial commands, and a paper giving an account of the synod that has
been held among you This had been a
synod held at Carthage for the suppression of the Donatists. Cf.
I. 74, note 8. Gregory, while fully approving, as he shows
elsewhere, of strict enforcement of the imperial laws against them,
expresses fear in this epistle lest the council lately held might have
gone too far, so as to endanger the unity of the African Church, in
exceeding the decrees of synods that had been held elsewhere, and
especially in ordering severe measures against bishops or others who
might be remiss in the work of suppressing heresy.
Epistle VIII.
To Cyprian, Deacon.
Gregory to Cyprian, deacon and rector of the patrimony of Sicily.
Concerning the Manicheans who are on our possessions I
have frequently admonished thy Love to press them with the utmost
diligence, and recall them to the Catholic faith. If, then, the
time requires it, make enquiries in person, or, if other business does
not allow this, through others. Further, it has come to my ears
that there are Hebrews on our possessions
Per manus
quorundam debiti conductorum. If the word
debiti(absent from some mss.) is
read here, the meaning may be that certain persons, called
debiti conductores, undertook the recovery of the arrears of the
rustici, and that through them easy loans were advanced to such
as were unable to pay at the proper time. Cf. I. 44, p. 89.
For the ordinary meaning of conductores (without debiti),
in connexion with the Church estates, see I. 44, p, 89, note 5. Aut in angariis
aut in rerum pretio. The word angaria is applicable to
any kind of vexatious exaction, either in the way of forced labour or
in other ways. “Per angarias intelliguntur vexationes et
injuriæ quælibet.” Du Cange. It may be used
here for exorbitant interest on loans obtained from usurers. As
to rerum pretio, cf. I. 44, p. 89, about burdatio, and
note 2.
Epistle XI.
To John, Bishop.
Gregory to John, Bishop of Ravenna.
I find that your Fraternity is greatly distressed on account of being forbidden by the censure of reason to wear the pallium in litanies. But through the most excellent Patrician, and through the most eminent Prefect, and through other noble men of your city, you have urgently requested to have this allowed you. Now we, having made careful enquiry of Adeodatus, some time thy Fraternity’s deacon, have ascertained that it was never the custom of thy predecessors to use the pallium during litanies, except at the solemnities of the blessed John the Baptist, the blessed Apostle Peter, and the blessed martyr Apollinaris. But we were by no means bound to believe him, since many of our delegates have often been at your Fraternity’s city, who declare that they never saw anything of the kind. And in this matter credence is rather to be given to many than to one, who is attesting something in behalf of his own Church. But, since we do not wish your Fraternity to be distressed, or the petition of our sons to be of no avail with us, we concede the use of the pallium, until we shall gain some more accurate knowledge, on the days of the Nativity of the Blessed John the Baptist, of the blessed Apostle Peter, and the blessed martyr Apollinaris, and on the day of the celebration of your ordination. But in the sacristy, according to former custom, after the sons of the Church have been received and dismissed, your Fraternity may put on the pallium, and so proceed to the solemnization of mass, arrogating to yourself nothing more in the daring of rash presumption; lest, while something is snatched at out of order in exterior habiliment, what might have been done in due order be neglected. Given in the month of October; Indiction 13.
Epistle XV.
To John, Bishop.
Gregory to John, Bishop of Ravenna.
In the first place this makes me sad; that thy
Fraternity writes to me with a double heart, exhibiting one sort of
blandishment in letters, but another sort with the tongue in secular
intercourse. In the next place, it grieves me that my brother
John even to this day retains on his tongue those gibes which notaries
while still boys are wont to indulge in. He speaks bitingly, and
seems to delight in such pleasantry. He flatters his friends in
their presence, and maligns them in their absence. Thirdly, it is
to me grievous and altogether execrable, that
“Servis tuis
turpia crimina imponis,”—apparently meaning that at all
hours he was accustomed to call them by opprobrious names.
From all these things I find that the dignity of
the Episcopacy is with him all in outside show, not in his mind.
And indeed I return thanks to Almighty God
that at the time when this came to my knowledge, which had never
reached the ears of my predecessors, the Lombards were posted between
me and the city of Ravenna. For perchance I had it in my mind to
shew to men how severe I can be The meaning may
be, “I am thankful now that the fact of communication between
Rome and Ravenna being blocked by the Lombards when the matter first
reached my ears prevented my acting so peremptorily as I might then
have been disposed to do.”
Lest, however, thou shouldest suppose that I wish thy church to be depressed or lessened in dignity, remember where the deacon of Ravenna used to stand in solemnization of mass at Rome, and enquire where he stands now; and thou wilt recognize the fact that I desire to honour the church of Ravenna. But that any one whatever should snatch at anything out of pride, this I cannot tolerate.
Nevertheless I have already written on this matter to our deacon at Constantinople, that he should enquire of all who have under them even thirty or forty bishops. And if there is anywhere this custom of their walking in litanies wearing the pallium, God forbid that through me the dignity of the church of Ravenna should seem to be in any way lessened.
Reflect, therefore, dearest brother, on all that I have said above: think of the day of thy call: consider what account thou wilt render of the burden of episcopacy. Amend those manners of a notary. See what becomes a bishop in tongue and in deed. Be entirely sincere to thy brethren. Do not speak one thing, and have another in thy heart. Do not desire to seem more than thou art, that so thou mayest be able to be more than thou seemest. Believe me, when I came to my present position, I had such consideration and charity towards thee that, if thou hadst wished to keep hold of this my charity, thou still wouldest not have ever found such a brother as myself, or one so sincerely loving thee, or so concurring with thee in all devotion: but when I came to know of thy words and thy manners, I confess I started back. I beseech thee, then, by Almighty God, amend all that I have spoken of, and especially the vice of duplicity. Allow me to love thee; and for the present and the future life it may be of advantage to thee to be loved of thy brethren. Reply, however, to all this, not by words, but by behaviour.
Epistle XVII.
To Cyprian, Deacon The deacon
Cyprian had succeeded the sub-deacon Peter as rector patrimonii
in Sicily, and Gregory’s general agent there, through whom he
acted in ecclesiastical as well as temporal matters, at any rate now,
after the death of Maximianus of Syracuse.
Gregory to Cyprian, &c.
I received your letters of most bitter import
about the death of the Lord
Maximianus See II. 7, note
5. Bishop of Catana
where this John was archdeacon.
Epistle XVIII.
To John, Bishop.
Gregory to John, Bishop of Constantinople On the same
occasion of this letter and subsequent correspondence on the same
subject, see Prolegomena, pp. xiv., xxii.
At the time when your Fraternity was advanced to Sacerdotal dignity, you remember what peace and concord of the churches you found. But, with what daring or with what swelling of pride I know not, you have attempted to seize upon a new name, whereby the hearts of all your brethren might have come to take offence. I wonder exceedingly at this, since I remember how thou wouldest fain have fled from the episcopal office rather than attain it. And yet, now that thou hast got it, thou desirest so to exercise it as if thou hadst run to it with ambitious intent. For, having confessed thyself unworthy to be called a bishop, thou hast at length been brought to such a pass as, despising thy brethren, to covet to be named the only bishop. And indeed with regard to this matter, weighty letters were addressed to your Holiness by my predecessor Pelagius of holy memory; in which he annulled the acts of the synod, which had been assembled among you in the case of our once brother and fellow-bishop Gregory, because of that execrable title of pride, and forbade the archdeacon whom he had sent according to custom to the threshold of our lord, to celebrate the solemnities of mass with you. But after his death, when I, unworthy, succeeded to the government of the Church, both through my other representatives and also through our common son the deacon Sabinianus, I have taken care to address your Fraternity, not indeed in writing, but by word of mouth, desiring you to restrain yourself from such presumption. And, in case of your refusing to amend, I forbade his celebrating the solemnities of mass with you; that so I might first appeal to your Holiness through a certain sense of shame, to the end that, if the execrable and profane assumption could not be corrected through shame, strict canonical measures might be then resorted to. And, since sores that are to be cut away should first be stroked with a gentle hand, I beg you, I beseech you, and with all the sweetness in my power demand of you, that your Fraternity gainsay all who flatter you and offer you this name of error, nor foolishly consent to be called by the proud title. For truly I say it weeping, and out of inmost sorrow of heart attribute it to my sins, that this my brother, who has been constituted in the grade of episcopacy for the very end of bringing back the souls of others to humility, has up to the present time been incapable of being brought back to humility; that he who teaches truth to others has not consented to teach himself, even when I implore him.
Consider, I pray thee, that in this rash
presumption the peace of the whole Church is disturbed, and that it is
in contradiction to the grace that is poured out on all in common; in
which grace doubtless thou thyself wilt have power to grow so far as
thou determinest with thyself to do so. And thou wilt become by
so much the greater as thou restrainest thyself from the usurpation of
a proud and foolish title: and thou wilt make advance in
proportion as thou art not bent on arrogation by derogation of thy
brethren. Wherefore, dearest brother, with all thy heart love
humility, through which the concord of all the brethren and the unity
of the holy universal Church may be preserved. Certainly the
apostle Paul, when he heard some say, I am of Paul, I of Apollos,
but I of Christ (
For what are all thy brethren, the bishops of the
universal Church, but stars of heaven, whose life and discourse shine
together amid the sins and errors of men, as if amid the shades of
night? And when thou desirest to put thyself above them by this
proud title, and to tread down their name in comparison with thine,
what else dost thou say but I will
Was it not the case, as your Fraternity knows,
that the prelates of this Apostolic See which by the providence of
God I serve, had the honour offered them of
being called universal by the venerable Council of Chalcedon As to this
assertion (repeated in V. 20, 43, and in VIII. 30), Giesler says,
“Gregory was mistaken in believing that at the Council of
Chalcedon the name Universalis Episcopus was given to the bishop
of Rome. He is styled οἰκουμενικὸς
ἀρχιεπίσκοπος
(Mansi VI. 1006, 1012), as other patriarchs also. But in another
place the title was surreptitiously introduced into the Latin acts by
the Romish legates. In the sentence passed on Dioscurus, actio
iii (Mansi VI. 1048), the Council say, ὁ ἁγιώτατος
καὶ
μακαριώτατος
ἀρχιεπίσκοπος
τῆς μεγάλης
καὶ
πρεσβυτέρας
῾Ρώμης
Λέων: on the contrary, in the Latin
acts which Leo sent to the Gallic bishops (Leonis,
But I know that all arises from those who serve
your Holiness on terms of deceitful familiarity; against whom I beseech
your Fraternity to be prudently on your guard, and not to lay yourself
open to be deceived by their words. For they are to be accounted
the greater enemies the more they flatter you with praises.
Forsake such; and, if they must needs deceive, let them at any rate
deceive the hearts of worldly men, and not of priests. Let the
dead bury their dead (
Whence also the wise man admonishes well, Be in
peace with many: but have but one counsellor of a thousand
(
Of a truth it was proclaimed of old through the
Apostle John, Little children, it is the last hour
(
What, then, can we bishops say for ourselves, who have received a place of honour from the humility of our Redeemer, and yet imitate the pride of the enemy himself? Lo, we know our Creator to have descended from the summit of His loftiness that He might give glory to the human race, and we, created of the lowest, glory in the lessening of our brethren. God humbled Himself even to our dust; and human dust sets his face as high as heaven, and with his tongue passes above the earth, and blushes not, neither is afraid to be lifted up: even man who is rottenness, and the son of man that is a worm.
Let us recall to mind, most dear brother, this
which is said by the most wise Solomon. Before thunder shall
go lightning, and before ruin shall the heart be exalted
(
What then, dearest brother, wilt thou say in that
terrible scrutiny of the coming judgment, if thou covetest to be called
in the world not only father, but even general father? Let, then,
the bad suggestion of evil men be guarded against; let all instigation
to offence be fled from. It must needs be (indeed) that
offences come; nevertheless, woe to that man by whom the offence
cometh (
It becomes you to consider, lest any root of
bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.
But still, though we neglect to consider, supernal judgment will be on
the watch against the swelling of so great elation. And we
indeed, against whom such and so great a fault is committed by this
nefarious attempt,—we, I say, are observing what the Truth
enjoins when it says, If thy brother shall sin against thee, go and
tell him his fault between thee and him alone. If he shall hear
thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee,
take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of one or two
witnesses every word may be established. But if he will not hear
them, tell it unto the Church. But if he will not hear the
Church, let him be to thee as an heathen
Wherefore may Almighty God show your Fraternity how great love for you constrains me when I thus speak, and how much I grieve in this case, not against you, but for you. But the case is such that in it I must prefer the precepts of the Gospel, the ordinances of the Canons, and the welfare of the brethren to the person even of him whom I greatly love.
I have received the most sweet and pleasant letter
of your Holiness with respect to the case of the presbyters John and
Athanasius Cf. III.
53, and reff.
Epistle XIX.
To Sabinianus, Deacon Sabinianus was at
this time the pope’s apocrisiarius, or responsalis,
at Constantinople.
Gregory to Sabinianus, &c.
In the cause of our brother the most reverend John, bishop of Constantinople, I have been unwilling to write two letters. But one I have drawn up briefly, which may seem to combine both requisites; that is to say, both honesty and kindness.
Let therefore thy Love take care to give him this letter
which I have now addressed to him in compliance with the wish of the
Emperor. For in the sequel another will be sent him such as his
pride will not rejoice in. For he has come even to this; that,
taking occasion of the case of John the presbyter, he transmitted
hither the acts, wherein almost in every line he called himself
οἰκουμενικὸν
(œcumenical)
patriarch. But I hope in Almighty God
that the Supernal Majesty will confound his hypocrisy. But I
wonder how he could so deceive thy Love as that thou shouldest allow
the lord Emperor to be persuaded to write to me himself concerning this
matter, admonishing me to have peace with him. For, if the lord
Emperor wishes to observe justice, he ought to have admonished him to
refrain from the proud title, and then at once there would be peace
between us. I suspect, however, that thou hast not all considered
with what cunningness this has been done by our aforesaid brother
John. For it is for this purpose that he has done it; that the
lord Emperor might be obeyed, and so he himself might seem to be
confirmed in his vanity, or that I might not obey him, and so his mind
might be irritated against me. But we will keep to the right way,
fearing nothing in this cause except the Almighty Lord. Wherefore let thy Love be in nothing
afraid. All things that you see to be lofty in this world against
the truth in behalf of the truth despise; trust in the grace of
Almighty God, and the help of the blessed
Apostle Peter. Remember the voice of the Truth, which says,
Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world
( Cum eo
procedere, i.e. in effect, to communicate with him.
Procedere means to approach the altar for celebration. Cf.
III. 57, “ingredientibus diaconibus ut mox procedatur.”
Epistle XX.
To Mauricius Augustus.
Gregory to Mauricius, &c.
Our most pious and God-appointed lord, among his
other august cares and burdens, watches also in the uprightness of
spiritual zeal over the preservation of peace among the priesthood,
inasmuch as he piously and truly considers that no one can govern
earthly things aright unless he knows how to deal with divine things,
and that the peace of the republic hangs on the peace of the universal
Church. For, most serene Lord, what
human power, and what strength of fleshly arm would presume to lift
irreligious hands against the lofty height of your most Christian
Empire, if the concordant hearts of priests were studious to implore
their Redeemer for you with the tongue, and also, as they ought to do,
by their deservings? Or what sword of a most savage race would
advance with so great cruelty to the slaughter of the faithful, unless
the life
The ironical allusion
here to John the Faster is evident.
For to all who know the Gospel it is apparent that
by the Lord’s voice the care of the
whole Church was committed to the holy Apostle and Prince of all the
Apostles, Peter. For to him it is said, Peter, lovest thou Me?
Feed My sheep (
Lo, he received the keys of the heavenly kingdom, and power to bind and loose is given him, the care and principality of the whole Church is committed to him, and yet he is not called the universal apostle; while the most holy man, my fellow-priest John, attempts to be called universal bishop. I am compelled to cry out and say, O tempora, O mores!
Lo, all things in the regions of Europe are given up into the power of barbarians, cities are destroyed, camps overthrown, provinces depopulated, no cultivator inhabits the land, worshippers of idols rage and dominate daily for the slaughter of the faithful, and yet priests, who ought to lie weeping on the ground and in ashes, seek for themselves names of vanity, and glory in new and profane titles.
Do I in this matter, most pious lord, defend my own cause? Do I resent my own special wrong? Nay, the cause of Almighty God, the cause of the Universal Church.
Who is this that, against the evangelical ordinances, against the decrees of canons, presumes to usurp to himself a new name? Would indeed that one by himself he were, if he could be without any lessening of others,—he that covets to be universal.
And certainly we know that many priests of the Constantinopolitan Church have fallen into the whirlpool of heresy, and have become not only heretics, but even heresiarchs. For thence came Nestorius, who, thinking Jesus Christ, the Mediator of God and men, to be two persons, because he did not believe that God could be made man, broke out even into Jewish perfidy. Thence came Macedonius, who denied that God the Holy Spirit was consubstantial with the Father and the Son. If then any one in that Church takes to himself that name, whereby he makes himself the head of all the good, it follows that the Universal Church falls from its standing (which God forbid), when he who is called Universal falls. But far from Christian hearts be that name of blasphemy, in which the honour of all priests is taken away, while it is madly arrogated to himself by one.
Certainly, in honour of Peter, Prince of the
apostles, it was offered by the venerable synod of Chalcedon to the
Roman pontiff Cf. V. 18, and note
5.
He, then, is rather to be bent by the mandate of our most pious Lords, who scorns to render obedience to canonical injunctions. He is to be coerced, who does wrong to the holy Universal Church, who swells in heart, who covets rejoicing in a name of singularity, who also puts himself above the dignity of your Empire through a title peculiar to himself.
Behold, we all suffer offence for this thing. Let then the author of the offence be brought back to a right way of life; and all quarrels of priests will cease. For I for my part am the servant of all priests, so long as they live as becomes priests. For whosoever, through the swelling of vain glory, lifts up his neck against Almighty God and against the statutes of the Fathers, I trust in Almighty God that he will not bend my neck to himself, not even with swords.
Moreover what has been done in this city on our
hearing of this title, I have indicated in full to my deacon and
responsalis Sabinianus. Let then the piety of my lords
think of me as their own, whom they have always cherished and
countenanced beyond others, and who desire to render obedience to you
and yet fear to be found guilty in the heavenly and tremendous
judgment, and, according to the petition of the aforesaid deacon
Sabinianus, let my most pious lord either deign to judge this business,
or to move the often before mentioned man to desist at length from this
attempt. If then through the most just judgment of your Piety he
should comply with your orders, even though they be mild ones, we shall
return thanks to Almighty God, and rejoice for
the peace granted through you to all the Church. But should he
persist any longer in his present contention, we hold this sentence of
the Truth to be already made good; Every one that exalteth himself
shall be humbled (
Epistle XXI.
To Constantina Augusta The main purport of
this letter to the Empress is to induce her to move the Emperor to
disallow the title of Universal Bishop assumed by the patriarch of
Constantinople; but at the end of the letter he takes occasion to
solicit her good offices also in the case of Maximus, bishop of Salona
for an account of which, with references to other letters on the
subject, cf. III. 47, note 2.
Gregory to Constantina, &c.
Almighty God, who holds in His right hand the heart of your Piety, both protects us through you and prepares for you rewards of eternal remuneration for temporal deeds. For I have learnt from the letters of the deacon Sabinianus my responsalis with what justice your Serenity is interested in the cause of the blessed Prince of the apostles Peter against certain persons who are proudly humble and feignedly kind. And I trust in the bounty of our Redeemer that for these your good offices with the most serene lord and his most pious sons you will receive retribution also in the heavenly country. Nor is there any doubt that you will receive eternal benefits, being loosed from the chains of your sins, if in the cause of his Church you have made him your debtor to whom the power of binding and of loosing has been given. Wherefore I still beg you to allow no man’s hypocrisy to prevail against the truth, since there are some who, according to the saying of the excellent preacher, by sweet words and fair speeches seduce the hearts of the innocent,—men who are vile in raiment, but puffed up in heart. And they affect to despise all things in this world, and yet seek to acquire for themselves all the things that are of this world. They confess themselves unworthy before all men, but cannot be content with private titles, since they covet that whereby they may seem to be more worthy than all. Let therefore your Piety, whom Almighty God has appointed with our most serene Lord to be over the whole world, through your favouring of justice render service to Him from whom you have received your right to so great a dominion, that you may rule over the world that is committed to you so much the more securely as you more truly serve the Author of all things in the execution of truth.
Furthermore, I inform you that I have received a letter
from the most pious lord desiring me to be pacific towards my brother
and fellow-priest John. And indeed so it became the religious
lord to give injunctions to priests. But, when this my brother
with new presumption and pride calls himself universal bishop, having
caused himself in the time of our predecessor of holy memory to be
designated in synod by this so proud a title, though all the acts of
that synod were abrogated,
Still it is very distressing, and hard to be borne
with patience, that my aforesaid brother and fellow-bishop, despising
all others, should attempt to be called sole bishop. But in this
pride of his what else is denoted than that the times of Antichrist are
already near at hand? For in truth he is imitating him who,
scorning social joy with the legions of angels, attempted to start up
to a summit of singular eminence, saying, I will exalt my throne
above the stars of heaven, I will sit upon the mount of the testament,
in the sides of the North, and will ascend above the heights of the
clouds, and I will be like the most High (
Moreover, it is now even seven years that we have been living in this city among the swords of the Lombards. How much is expended on them daily by this Church, that we may be able to live among them, is not to be told. But I briefly indicate that, as in the regions of Ravenna the Piety of my Lords has for the first army of Italy a treasurer (sacellarium) to defray the daily expenses for recurring needs, so I also in this city am their treasurer for such purposes. And yet this Church, which at one and the same time unceasingly expends so much on clergy, monasteries, the poor, the people, and in addition on the Lombards, lo it is still pressed down by the affliction of all the Churches, which groan much for this pride of one man, though they do not presume to say anything.
Further, a bishop of the city of Salona has been
ordained without the knowledge of me and my responsalis, and a
thing has been done which never happened under any former
princes. When I heard of this, I at once sent word to that
prevaricator, who had been irregularly ordained, that he must not
presume by any means to celebrate the solemnities of mass, unless we
should have first ascertained from our most serene lords that they had
ordered this to be done; and this I commanded him under pain of
excommunication. And yet, scorning and despising me, supported by
the audacity of certain secular persons, to whom he is said to give
many bribes so as to impoverish his Church, he presumes up to this time
to celebrate mass, and has refused to come to me according to the order
of my lords. Now I, obeying the injunction of their Piety, have
from my heart forgiven this same Maximus, who had been ordained without
my knowledge, his presumption in passing over me and my
responsalis in his ordination, even as though he had been
ordained with my authority. But his other wrong doings—to
wit his bodily transgressions, which I have heard of, and his having
been elected through bribery, and his having presumed to celebrate mass
while excommunicated—these things, for the sake of God, I cannot pass over without enquiry. But I hope,
and implore the Lord, that no fault may be
found in him with respect to these things that are reported, and that
his case may be terminated without peril to my soul.
Nevertheless, before this has been ascertained, my most serene lord, in
the order that has been despatched, has enjoined me to receive him with
honour when he comes. And it is a very serious thing that a man
of whom so many things of such a nature are reported should be honoured
before such things have been enquired into and sifted, as they ought in
the first place to be. And, if the causes of the bishops who are
committed to me are settled before my most pious lords under the
patronage of others, what shall I do, unhappy that I am, in this
Church? But that my bishops despise me, and have recourse to
secular Judges against me, I give thanks to
Epistle XXIII.
To Castorius, Notary.
Gregory to Castorius, &c.
Our hearing of the death of our brother and
fellow-bishop John Viz. John bishop of
Ravenna, as to whom see III. 56, 57; V. 11, 15. Marinianus was
elected in his place. See VI. 34, 61. De
præcedentibus. Al. de præcedentibus
diaconibus.
Epistle XXV.
To Severus, Bishop.
Gregory to Severus, Bishop of Ficulum.
The report that has been sent to us has informed
us of the death of the bishop John Viz. John, bishop of
Ravenna. See
Epistle XXVI.
To the people of Ravenna.
Gregory to the clergy, gentry, and common people
of Ravenna Cf. II. 6, note
3.
Having been informed of the death of your bishop, we have taken care to delegate to our brother and fellow-bishop Severus of Ficulum the visitation of the bereaved Church, to whom we have given in charge to allow nothing with respect to the promotions of the clergy, the revenues, ornaments, and ministrations, to be usurped by any one. It is for you to render obedience to his assiduous exhortations. According to custom.
Epistle XXIX.
To Vincomalus, Guardian
(Defensorem) We have in this
epistle the form of appointment to the office of Defensor
Ecclesiæ. Cf. XI. 38. From IX. 62 it appears that
the functions of the office had in some cases been usurped by persons
not duly authorized, as it is there ordered that none should be
recognized but such as possessed letters of appointment. The only
duties of the office specified in this form of appointment have
reference to the poor—“pro pauperum commodis;” but it
is evident from the many epistles addressed to defensores,
that they had a much wider scope. See Prolegomena, p.
vii.
Gregory to Vincomalus, &c.
With a view to the advantage of the Church it is our will and pleasure, that, if thou art held bound by no condition of, or liability to, bodily service, and hast not been a cleric of any other city, and if there is no canonical objection to thee, thou take the office of guardian of the Church, that thou mayest execute incorruptly and with alacrity whatever may be enjoined thee by us for the benefit of the poor, using this privilege which after deliberation we have conferred upon thee, so as to do thy diligence faithfully in accomplishing all that may be enjoined on thee by us, as having to render an account of thy doings under the judgment of our God. This epistle we have dictated, to be committed to writing, to Paterius, notary of our Church; In the month of March, Indiction 13.
To Mauricius Augustus.
Gregory to Mauricius, &c.
The Piety of my Lords, which has been wont
mercifully to sustain your servants, has shone forth here in so kind a
supply that the need of all the feeble has been relieved by the succour
of your bounty. On this account we all with prayers and tears
beseech Almighty God, who has moved the heart
of your Clemency to do this thing, that He would preserve the empire of
our Lords safe in His unfailing love, and by the aid of His own majesty
extend their victories in all nations. The thirty pounds of gold
which my fellow-servant Busa brought, Scribo Or Scribo may
be the official designation of the officer commissioned to distribute
the imperial bounty. Cf. II. 32, note 7. Or Scribo may be
the official designation of the officer commissioned to distribute the
imperial bounty. Cf. II. 32, note 7.
Epistle XXXVI.
To Severus, Scholasticus
Gregory to Severus, Scholasticus to the
Exarch “Scholasticus—Quivis eloquens, disertus,
oratoriæ facultatis et politiaris literaturæ studiis
eruditus.—Advocatus, patronus, qui causam in foro agit; sed
proprie peritus, eloquens, disertus patronus (Cod.
Theod).” [D’Arnis’ Lexicon Manuale.]
Severus may be concluded to have been the Exarch’s legal
adviser.
Those who assist judges and are bound to them by sincere attachment ought to advise them and suggest to them what may both save their souls and not derogate from their reputation. This being so, since we know with what sincere loyalty you love the most excellent Exarch, we have been careful to inform your Greatness of the things that have been done, that, being aware of them, you may move him to assent to them reasonably.
Know then that Agilulph, King of the Lombards, is not unwilling to conclude a general peace, if only the lord Patricius will consent to an arbitration. For he complains that many acts of violence were committed in his regions during the time of peace. And since, if reasonable grounds for arbitration should be found, he desires to have satisfaction made to himself, he also himself promises to make satisfaction in all ways, if it should appear that any wrong was committed on his side during the peace. Since then it is no doubt reasonable to agree to what he asks, there ought to be an arbitration, that, if any wrongs have been done on either side, they may be adjusted; so that it may be possible, with the protection of God, to establish a general peace; for how necessary for us all this is you well know. Act therefore wisely as you have been wont to do, that the most excellent Exarch may consent to this without delay, lest peace should appear to be refused by him, as should not be. For, should he be unwilling to consent, he indeed [Agilulph] again promises to conclude a special peace with us; but we know that divers islands and other places would undoubtedly in that case be ruined. However, let him [the Exarch] consider these things, and hasten to make peace, to the end that at any rate during this cessation of hostilities we may have some degree of quiet, and the forces of the republic may with the help of God be the better repaired for resistance.
Epistle XXXIX.
To Anastasius, Bishop See I. 7, note
5. Anastasius had now been recently restored to his patriarchal
see.
Gregory to Anastasius, Bishop of Antioch.
Glory to God in the
highest and on earth peace to men of good will (
And indeed these things cannot be without heavy
labour and trouble. But let us remember the labours of those who
went before us; and what we endure will not be hard. For We
must through many tribulations enter into the kingdom of God (
Further, what tribulations I suffer in this land
from the swords of the Lombards, from the iniquities of judges, from
the press of business, from the care of subjects, and also from bodily
affliction, I am unable to express either by pen or tongue.
Concerning which things even though I might say something briefly, I
hesitate, lest to your most holy Charity, while afflicted by your own
tribulations, I should add mine also. But may Almighty
God both in the abundance of His
loving-kindness fill the mind of your most holy Blessedness with all
comfort, and grant at some time, on account of your intercession, to
unworthy me to rest from these evils which I suffer. Amen.
Grace. These words, as you see, taken from what you had written,
I insert in my epistles, that your Blessedness may perceive with regard
to Saint Ignatius that he is not only yours, but also ours The expression is
found in the spurious, but not in what are held to be the genuine,
epistles of St. Ignatius. For Gregory’s
view of Antioch having been St. Peter’s see previously to his
presiding over that of Rome, and of the sees of Rome, Alexandria, and
Antioch jointly representing the see of the Prince of the
Apostle’s, see especially VII. 40. Cf. also VI. 60; VIII.
2; X. 35.
Benedictio, meaning a present. See IV. 31,
note 9.
Epistle XL.
To Mauricius Augustus.
Gregory to Mauricius, &c.
The Piety of my Lords in their most serene
commands, while set on refuting me on certain matters, in sparing me
has by no means spared me. For by the use therein of the term
simplicity they politely call me silly. It is true indeed that in
Holy Scripture, when simplicity is spoken of in a good sense, it is
often carefully associated with prudence and uprightness. Hence
it is written of the blessed Job, The man was simple and upright
(
I therefore, who am denounced in the most serene
commands of my Lords as simple without the addition of prudence, as
having been deceived by the cunning of Ariulph, am plainly and
undoubtedly called silly; which I also myself acknowledge to be the
case. For, though your Piety were silent, the facts
This may be an
ironical allusion to something the Emperor had said in his letter to
Gregory.
And indeed if the captivity of my land were not
increasing day by day, I would gladly pass over in silence contempt and
ridicule of myself. But this does afflict me exceedingly, that
from my bearing the charge of falsehood it ensues also that Italy is
daily led captive under the yoke of the Lombards. And, while my
representations are in no wise believed, the strength of the enemy is
increasing hugely. This however I suggest to my most pious lord,
that he would think anything that is bad of me, but, with regard to the
advantage of the republic and the cause of the rescue of Italy, not
easily lend his pious ears to any one, but believe facts rather than
words. Moreover, let not our lord, in virtue of his earthly
power, too hastily disdain priests, but with excellent consideration,
on account of Him whose servants they are, so rule over them as also to
pay the reverence that is due to them. For in Holy Writ priests
are sometimes called gods, and sometimes angels. For even through
Moses it is said of him who is to be put upon his oath, Bring him
unto the gods (
Ecclesiastical history also testifies that, when accusations in writing against bishops had been offered to the Prince Constantine of pious memory, he received indeed the bills of accusation, but, calling together the bishops who had been accused, he burnt before their eyes the bills which he had received, saying, Ye are gods, constituted by the true God. Go, and settle your causes among you, for it is not fit that we should judge gods. Yet in this sentence, my pious Lord, he conferred more on himself by his humility than on them by the reverence paid to them. For before him there were pagan princes in the republic, who knew not the true God, but worshipped gods of wood and stone; and yet they paid the greatest honour to their priests. What wonder then if a Christian emperor should condescend to honour the priests of the true God, when pagan princes, as we have already said, knew how to bestow honour on priests who served gods of wood and stone? These things, then, I suggest to the piety of my Lords, not in my own behalf, but in behalf of all priests. For I am a man that is a sinner. And, since I offend against Almighty God incessantly every day, I surmise that it will be some amends for this at the tremendous judgment, that I am smitten incessantly every day by blows. And I believe that you appease the same Almighty God all the more as you more severely afflict me who serve Him badly. For I had already received many blows, and when the commands of my Lords came in addition, I found consolations that I was not hoping for. For, if I can, I will briefly enumerate these blows.
First, that the peace which without any cost to
the republic I had made with the Lombards who were in Tuscany was
withdrawn from me. Then, the peace having been broken, the
soldiers were removed from the Roman city. And some indeed were
slain by the enemy, but others were placed at Narnii and Perusium
(Perugia); and Rome was left, that Perusium might be held.
After this a still heavier blow was the arrival of Agilulph, so that I
saw with my own eyes Romans tied by the neck with ropes like dogs, to
be taken to France for sale. And, because we who were within the
city under the protection of God escaped his
hands, a ground was thence sought for making us appear culpable; to
wit, because corn ran short, which cannot by any means be kept in large
quantities for long in this city; as I have shewn more fully in another
representation. On my own account indeed I was in no wise
disturbed, since I declare, my conscience bearing me witness, that I
was prepared to suffer any adversity whatever, so long as I came out of
all these things with the safety of my soul. But for the glorious
men, Gregory the præfect, and Castorius the military commander
(magistro militum), I have been distressed in no small degree,
seeing that they in no way neglected to do all that could be done, and
endured most severe toil in watching
Now as to the Piety of my Lords holding out over
me the formidable and terrible judgment of Almighty God, I beseech you by the same Almighty God to do this no more. For as yet we know not how
any of us will stand there. And Paul, the excellent preacher,
says, Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things
of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts
( For the
circumstances referred to in this epistle, see Proleg., p.
xix. It shews how outspoken Gregory could be, when greatly moved,
in addressing the Emperor, notwithstanding his accustomed
deference.
Epistle XLI.
To Constantina Augusta.
Gregory to Constantina, &c.
Knowing how my most serene Lady thinks about the heavenly country and the life of her soul, I consider that I should be greatly in fault were I to keep silence on matters that ought to be represented to her for the fear of God.
Having ascertained that there are many of the
natives in the island of Sardinia who still, after the evil custom of
their race, practise sacrifices to idols, and that the priests of the
same island are sluggish in preaching our Redeemer, I sent thither one
of the bishops of Italy, who with the co-operation of the Lord has brought many of the natives to the faith.
But he has reported to me a sacrilegious proceeding, namely, that those
in the island who sacrifice to idols pay a bribe to the judge for
license to do this. And, when some of them had been baptized and
had ceased sacrificing to idols, the same payment had been exacted by
this same judge of the island, even after their baptism, which they had
been previously accustomed to make for leave to sacrifice to
idols. And, when the aforesaid bishop found fault with him, he
replied that he had promised so large a suffragium i.e. the
payment to the imperial government required from judges or other
functionaries in consideration of their appointment.
“Suffragium. Pecuniæ
quæ suffragii titulo ab Imperatoribus accipiebantur cum honores
deferebant, quæ δεσποτικὰ;
vocantur in formula jurisjurandi.—Novellæ Justiniani
8, cujus titulus est, ut judices sine suffragio
fiant.” Du Cange. Titulos, i.e.
notices put upon properties, asserting claim, or announcing sale,
&c.
Let my most serene Lady look to all these things wisely,
and assuage the groans of the oppressed. For I suspect that these
things have not come to your most pious ears. For if they could
have reached them, they would by no means have continued until
now. But they should be represented now at a suitable time to our
most pious lord, that he may remove such and so great a burden of sin
from his own soul, from the empire, and from his sons. I know he
will say that whatever is collected from the aforesaid islands is
transmitted to us for the expenses of Italy. But in reply to this
I suggest that, even though less expenditure were bestowed on Italy, he
should still rid his empire of the tears of the oppressed. For
perhaps, too, such great expenditure in this land profits less than it
might do because the money for it is collected with some admixture of
sin. Let therefore our most serene Lords give orders that nothing
be collected with sin. And I know that, though less is given for
the advantage of the republic, the republic is thereby much
aided. And though perhaps it may be less aided by a less
expenditure, yet it is better that we should not live temporally, than
that you should find any hindrance in the way of eternal life.
For consider what must be the
Epistle XLII.
To Sebastian, Bishop.
Gregory to Sebastian, Bishop of Sirmium.
I have received the most sweet and pleasant letter of thy Fraternity, which, though you are never absent from my heart, has nevertheless made your Holiness as it were present with me bodily. But I beseech Almighty God to protect you with His right hand, and to grant you a tranquil life here, and, when it shall please Him, eternal rewards. But I beg you, if you love me with that love wherewith you always loved me when we were together, to pray for me more earnestly, that so Almighty God may loose me from the bands of my sins, and make me to stand free in His sight, released from the burden of this corruption. For, however inestimable be the sweetness of the heavenly country for drawing one towards it, yet there are many sorrows in this life to impel us daily to the love of heavenly things. And these only please me exceedingly from the very fact that they do not allow anything to please me in this world.
For we can by no means describe, most holy
brother, what we suffer in this land at the hands of your friend, the
lord Romanus Romanus Patricius, the
Exarch.
Furthermore, while addressing you with the
greeting that I owe you, I inform you that it has come to my knowledge
from the report of Boniface the defensor, that our brother the
most holy lord Anastasius the patriarch Viz. of Antioch.
Epistle XLIII.
To Eulogius and Anastasius, Bishops.
Gregory to Eulogius, Bishop of Alexandria, and Anastasius, Bishop of Antioch.
When the excellent preacher says, As long as I
am the apostle of the Gentiles I will honour my ministry
(
For, as your venerable Holiness knows, this name
of Universality was offered by the holy synod of Chalcedon to the
pontiff of the Apostolic See which by the providence of God I serve Cf. V. 18, and
note.
Wherefore let not your Holiness in your epistles
ever call any one Universal, lest you detract from the honour due to
yourself in offering to another what is not due. Nor let any
sinister suspicion make your mind uneasy with regard to our most serene
lords, inasmuch as he fears Almighty God, and
will in no way consent to do anything against the evangelical
ordinances, against the most sacred canons. As for me, though
separated from you by long spaces of land and sea, I am nevertheless
entirely conjoined with you in heart. And I trust that it is so
in all respects with your Blessedness towards me; since, when you love
me in return, you are not far from me. Hence we give thanks the
more to that grain of mustard seed (
Hence also we are not far from you, since in Him
who is everywhere we are one. Let us then give thanks to Him who,
having abolished enmities, has caused that in His flesh there should be
in the whole world one flock, and one sheepfold under Himself the one
shepherd; and let us be ever mindful how the preacher of truth
admonishes us, saying, Be careful to keep the unity of the spirit in
the bond of peace (
But, because peace cannot be established except on two sides, when the bad fly from it, the good ought to keep it in their inmost hearts. Whence also it is admirably said, As much as lieth in you; meaning that it should remain in us even when it is repelled from the hearts of evil men. And such peace we truly keep, when we treat the faults of the proud at once with charity and with persistent justice, when we love them and hate their vices. For man is the work of God; but vice is the work of man. Let us then distinguish between what God and what man has made, and neither hate the man on account of his error nor love the error on account of the man.
Let us then with united mind attack the evil of pride in the man, that from his enemy, that is to say his error, the man himself may first be freed. Our Almighty Redeemer will supply strength to charity and justice; He will supply to us, though placed far from each other, the unity of His Spirit; even He by whose workmanship the Church, having been constructed as it were after the manner of the ark with the four sides of the world, and bound together with the compacture of incorruptible planks and the pitch of charity, is disturbed by no opposing winds, by the swelling of no billow coming from without.
But inasmuch as, with His grace steering us, we ought to
seek that no wave coming upon us from without may throw us into
confusion, so ought we to pray with all our hearts, dearest brethren,
that the right hand of His providence may draw out the accumulation of
internal bilgewater within us. For indeed our adversary the
devil, who, in his rage against the humble, as a roaring lion walketh
about seeking whom he may devour (
But may Almighty God make known to your Blessedness with what sore groaning I am tormented by this consideration; that he, the once to me most modest man, he who was beloved of all, he who seemed to be occupied in alms, deeds, prayers, and fastings, out of the ashes he sat in, out of the humility he preached, has grown so boastful as to attempt to claim all to himself, and through the elation of a pompous expression to aim at subjugating to himself all the members of Christ, which cohere to one Head only, that is to Christ. Nor is it surprising that the same tempter who knows pride to be the beginning of all sin, who used it formerly before all else in the case of the first man, should now also put it before some men at the end of virtues, so as to lay it as a snare for those who to some extent seemed to be escaping his most cruel hands by the good aims of their life, at the very goal of good work, and as it were in the very conclusion of perfection.
Wherefore we ought to pray earnestly, and implore Almighty God with continual supplications, that He would avert this error from that man’s soul, and remove this mischief of pride and confusion from the unity and humility of the Church. And with the favour of the Lord we ought to concur, and make provision with all our powers, lest in the poison of one expression the living members in the body of Christ should die. For, if this expression is suffered to be allowably used, the honour of all patriarchs is denied: and while he that is called Universal perishes per chance in his error, no bishop will be found to have remained in a state of truth.
It is for you then, firmly and without prejudice,
to keep the Churches as you have received them, and not to let this
attempt at a diabolical usurpation have any countenance from you.
Stand firm; stand secure; presume not ever to issue or to receive
writings with the falsity of the name Universal in them. Bid all
the bishops subject to your care abstain from the defilement of this
elation, that the Universal Church may acknowledge you as Patriarchs
not only in good works but also in the authority of truth. But,
if perchance adversity is the consequence, we ought to persist
unanimously, and show even by dying that in case of harm to the
generality we do not love anything of our own especially. Let us
say with Paul, To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain
(
Epistle XLVIII.
To Andrew, Scholasticus On the term
“Scholasticus,” see V. 36, note 9. It appears from
this and other epistles that persons thus designated were addressed as
“Gloria vestra.” The “Patrician”
mentioned in this letter as having recommended the Archdeacon Donatus
to succeed John as Archbishop of Ravenna, was Romanus Patricius, Exarch
of Italy, who died a.d. 598. He is often
addressed or referred to in the Epistles. See Index.
Gregory to Andrew, &c.
We have been desirous of carrying out the wish of
the most excellent the lord Patrician as to the person of Donatus, the
archdeacon; but, seeing that it is very dangerous to the soul to lay
hands on any one rashly, we took care to examine by a thorough
investigation into his life and deeds. And, since many things
have been discovered, as we have written to the said lord Patrician,
which remove him far from the episcopate, we, fearing the judgment of
God, have not thought fit to consent to his
ordination. But neither have we presumed to ordain John, the
presbyter, who is ignorant of the psalms, since this circumstance
certainly shewed him to be too little in earnest about himself.
These, then, being excluded, when we had urged the parties to choose
some one from among their own people See above V. 23. For subsequent
notices of Marinianus, see Index.
Epistle XLIX.
To Leander, Bishop.
Gregory to Leander, Bishop of Hispalis (Seville).
With what ardour I am athirst to see thee thou readest in the tables of thine own heart, since thou lovest me exceedingly. But since I cannot see thee, separated as thou art from me by long tracts of country, I have done what charity towards thee dictated, namely to transmit to thy Holiness, on the arrival here of our common son Probinus the presbyter, the book of Pastoral Rule, which I wrote at the commencement of my episcopate, and the books which thou knewest I had already composed on the exposition of the blessed Job. Some sheets indeed of the third and fourth parts of that work I have not sent to thy Charity, having already given those sheets only of the said parts to monasteries. These, then, which I send let thy Holiness earnestly peruse, and more earnestly deplore my sins, lest it be to my more serious blame that I am seen as it were to know what I omit to do. But with how great tumults of business I am oppressed in this Church the very brevity of my epistle will signify to thy Charity, seeing that I say so little to him whom more than all I love.
Epistle LII.
To John, Archbishop.
Gregory to John, Archbishop of the Corinthians.
The equity and solicitude of Secundinus our
brother and fellow-bishop, which had been well known to us of old, is
shewn also by the tenor of your letters. In this matter he has
greatly pleased us, and made us glad, in that in the cause of
Anastasius Anastasius, bishop
of the Metropolitan See of Corinth, had been deposed for some serious
crime, the nature of which is not mentioned, Secundinus, bishop of some
other see, having apparently been commissioned by Gregory to
investigate the charges against him. John, to whom this letter is
addressed had now succeeded him. See also Epp. LVII., LVIII.
As to Paul the deacon then, the bearer of these
presents, although his fault is exceedingly to his shame and
discredit—namely, that deluded by promises, he held back from
accusation of his late bishop who has been lately deposed, and that, in
the eagerness of cupidity, he consented, against his own soul, to keep
silence rather than declare the truth—yet, since it befits us to
be more kind than strict, we pardon him this fault, and decide that he
is to be received again into his rank and position. For we
believe that the affliction which he has endured since the time of the
sentence being pronounced may suffice for the punishment of this
fault. But as to Euphemius and Thomas, who received sacred orders
for relinquishing their accusation, it is our will that they be
deprived of these sacred orders, and, having been deposed from them, so
continue; and we decree that they shall never, under any pretext or
excuse, be restored to sacred orders. For it is in the highest
degree improper, and contrary to the rule of ecclesiastical discipline,
that they should enjoy the dignity which they have received, not for
their merits, but as the reward of wickedness. Yet, inasmuch as
it is fit for us to incline to mercy more than to strict justice, it is
our will that the same Euphemius and Thomas be restored to the rank and
position, but to that only, from which they had been promoted to sacred
orders, and receive during all the days of their life the stipends of
these positions, as they had been before accustomed. Further, as
to Clematius the reader, I appoint, from a like motive of benignity,
that he is to be restored
Epistle LIII.
To Virgilius, Bishop.
Gregory to Virgilius, Bishop of Arelate (Arles).
O how good is charity, which through an image in the mind exhibits what is absent as present to ourselves, through love unites what is divided, settles what is confused, associates things that are unequal, completes things that are imperfect! Rightly does the excellent preacher call it the bond of perfectness; since, though the other virtues indeed produce perfectness, yet still charity binds them together so that they can no longer be loosened from the heart of one who loves. Of this virtue, then, most dear brother, I find thee to be full, as both those who came from the Gallican parts and the words also of thy letter addressed to me testify to me of thee.
Now as to thy having asked therein, according to
ancient custom, for the use of the pallium and the vicariate of the
Apostolic See, far be it from me to suspect that thou hast sought
eminence of transitory power, or the adornment of external worship, in
our vicariate and in the pallium. But, since it is well known to
all whence the holy faith proceeded in the regions of Gaul, when your
Fraternity asks for a repetition of the old custom of the Apostolic
See, what is it but that a good offspring reverts to the bosom of its
mother? Gregory here
asserts the view of his day, which after his manner he takes for
granted that Gaul had derived its Christianity from Rome.
Similarly, long before him, pope Zosimus (417–418), writing to
the bishops of Gaul in support of the jurisdiction over them of
Patroclus of Arles, speaks of such jurisdiction being of ancient right,
derived from Trophimus having been sent from Rome as first bishop of
Arles, and all Gaul having received the stream of faith from that
fountain. Gregory of Tours (Hist. Franc. i. 28), referring
to Passio S. Saturnini Episc. Solos., speaks of seven
missionary bishops having been sent from Rome to Gaul “Decio et
Grato consulibus,” i.e. a.d. 250,
including Trophimus, who is said to have founded the see of
Arles. But the see of Arles must have existed before the date
assigned, since it appears from Cyprian (Ep. VI. 7), that in 254
Marcian had long been its bishop. And generally, the well-known
differences of the Gallican liturgy and usages from the Roman, to which
pope Gregory himself alludes in his letter to Augustine (XI. 64), as
well as Irenæus of Lyons, in the second century, being said to
have been a disciple of Polycarp points to an Asiatic rather than Roman
origin of the Church in Gaul.
For I have learnt from information given me by certain
persons that in the parts of Gaul and Germany no one attains to holy
orders except for a consideration given. If this is so, I say it
with tears, I declare it with groans, that, when the priestly order has
fallen inwardly, neither will it be able to stand outwardly for
long. For we know from the Gospel what our Redeemer in person
did; how He went into the temple, and overthrew the seats of them that
sold doves (
And in truth this transgression is propagated with
increase among subordinates. For he who is promoted to any sacred
order for a price, being already corrupted in the very root of his
advancement, is the more ready to sell to others what he has
bought. And where is that which is written, Freely ye have
received, freely give (
And, seeing that the simoniacal heresy was
Another very detestable thing has also been
reported to us; that some persons, being laymen, through desire of
temporal glory, are tonsured on the death of bishops, and all at once
are made priests. In such cases it is already known what manner
of man he is who attains to priesthood, passing suddenly from a lay
estate to sacred leadership. And one who has never served as a
soldier fears not to become a leader of the religious
Religiosorum. The appellation is applied to persons
generally who gave themselves to a religious life, including monks,
nuns, dedicated virgins, and the like. It must be here taken to
include the clergy.
Moreover, we know that walls after being built, are not made to carry a weight of timber till they are dried of the moisture of their newness, lest, if a weight be put on them before they are settled, it bear down the whole fabric together to the ground. And, when we cut trees for a building, we wait for the moisture of their greenness to be first dried out, lest, if the weight of the fabric is imposed on them while still fresh, they be bent from their very newness, and be the sooner broken and fall down from having been elevated prematurely. Why, then, is not this scrupulously seen to among men, which is so carefully considered even in the case of timber and stones?
On this account your Fraternity must needs take care to admonish our most excellent son king Childebert that he remove entirely the stain of this sin from his kingdom, to the end that Almighty God may give him the greater recompense with Himself as He sees him both love what He loves and shun what He hates.
And so we commit to your Fraternity, according to
ancient custom, under God, our vicariate in
the Churches which are under the dominion of our most excellent son
Childebert Childebert
II., the son of Sigebert I. and Brunechild, was at this time the ruler
of nearly all the dominions of the Franks in Gaul. Having been
proclaimed by the Austrasian nobles king of Austrasia on the death of
his father, a.d. 575, he acquired also
Burgundy on the death of his uncle Guntramn in 593. These
kingdoms at this time comprised by far the greatest part of Gaul, the
kingdom of what was called Neustria under Clotaire II. including only a
small territory on the north-west coast.
Now may Almighty God keep you under His protection, and grant unto you to preserve by your behaviour the dignity that you have received. Given the 12th day of August, Indiction 13.
Epistle LIV.
To all the Bishops of the Kingdom of Childebert.
Gregory to all the Bishops of Gaul who are under
the kingdom of Childebert See preceding
Epistle, note 9.
To this end has the provision of the divine dispensation appointed that there should be diverse degrees and distinct orders, that, while the inferiors shew reverence to the more powerful and the more powerful bestow love on the inferiors, one contexture of concord may ensue of diversity, and the administration of all several offices may be properly borne. Nor indeed could the whole otherwise subsist; unless, that is, a great order of differences of this kind kept it together. Further, that creation cannot be governed, or live, in a state of absolute equality we are taught by the example of the heavenly hosts, since, there being angels and also archangels, it is manifest that they are not equal; but in power and rank, as you know, one differs from another. If then among these who are without sin there is evidently this distinction, who of men can refuse to submit himself willingly to this order of things which he knows that even angels obey? For hence peace and charity embrace each other mutually, and the sincerity of concord remains firm in the reciprocal love which is well pleasing to God.
Since, then, each single duty is then salubriously
fulfilled when there is one president who may be referred to, we have
therefore perceived it to be opportune, in the Churches that are under
the dominion of our most excellent
And, since it is necessary that the bishops should assemble at suitable times for conference before him to whom we have granted our vicariate jurisdiction as often as he may think it, we exhort that none of you presume to be disobedient to his orders, or defer attending the general conclave, unless perchance bodily infirmity should prevent any one, or a just excuse in any case should allow his absence. Yet let such as are unavoidably prevented from attending the synod send a presbyter or a deacon in their stead, to the end that the things that, with the help of God, may be decided by our vicar, may come to the knowledge of him who is absent by a faithful report through the person whom he had sent, and be observed with unshaken steadfastness, and that there be no occasion of excuse for daring to violate them.
About this also we take the precaution of warning you, that none of you may attempt in any way to depart to places at any great distance without the authority of our aforesaid brother and fellow-bishop Virgilius, knowing that the orders of our predecessors, who granted vicariate jurisdiction to his predecessors, undoubtedly lay this down.
Furthermore, we exhort that each one of you give careful attention to his own office, so that he who desires to receive the reward promised for feeding the sheep may guard the flock committed to him with carefulness and prayer, lest the prowling wolf should invade and tear the sheep entrusted to him, and there should be in the retribution punishment instead of reward. We hope, therefore, most dear brethren, and we entreat Almighty God with all our prayers, that He would make you to be fervent more and more in the constancy of His love, and grant you especially to be retained in the peace of the Church, and in agreement together.
It has been reported to us that some are promoted to sacred orders through simoniacal heresy; and we have ordered our above-written brother and fellow-bishop Virgilius that this must be altogether prohibited; and, that your Fraternity may know and studiously observe this, our letter to him is to be read in your presence. Given the 12th day of August, Indiction 13.
Epistle LV.
To King Childebert.
Gregory to Childebert, king of the Franks See Ep. LIII., note
9.
The letter of your Excellency has made us exceedingly glad, testifying as it does that you are careful, with pious affection, of the honour and reverence due to priests. For you thus shew to all that you are faithful worshippers of God, while you love His priests with the acceptable veneration that is due to them, and hasten with Christian devotion to do whatever may advance their position. Whence also we have received with pleasure what you have written, and grant what you desire with willing mind; and accordingly we have committed, with the favour of God, our vicariate jurisdiction to our brother Virgilius, bishop of the city of Arelate, according to ancient custom and your Excellency’s desire; and have also granted him the use of the pallium, as has been the custom of old.
But, inasmuch as some things have been reported to us which greatly offend Almighty God, and confound the honour and reverence due to the priesthood, we beg that they may be in every way amended with the support of the censure of your power, lest, while headstrong and perverse doings run counter to your devotion, your kingdom, or your soul (which God forbid) be burdened by the guilt of others.
Further, it has come to our knowledge that on the death
of bishops some persons from being laymen are tonsured, and mount to
the episcopate by a sudden leap. And thus one
But this also, a thing most execrable, has been reported to us as well: that sacred orders are conferred through simoniacal heresy, that is for bribes received. And, seeing that it is exceedingly pestiferous, and contrary to the Universal Church, that one be promoted to any sacred order not for merit but for a price, we exhort your Excellency to order so detestable a wickedness to be banished from your kingdom. For that man shows himself to be thoroughly unworthy of this office, who fears not to buy the gift of God with money, and presumes to try to get by payment what he deserves not to have through grace.
These things, then, most excellent son, I admonish you about for this reason, that I desire your soul to be saved. And I should have written about them before now, had not innumerable occupations stood in the way of my will. But now that a suitable time for answering your letter has offered itself, I have not omitted what it was my duty to do. Wherefore, greeting your Excellency with the affection of paternal charity, we beg that all things which we have enjoined on our above-named brother and fellow-bishop to be done and observed, may be carried out under the protection of your favour, and that you allow them not to be in any way upset by the elation or pride of any one. But, as they were observed by his predecessor under the reign of your glorious father, so let them be observed now also, by your aid, with zealous devotion. It is right, then, that we should thus have a return made to us; and that, as we have not deferred fulfilling your will, so you too, for the sake of God and the blessed Peter, Prince of the apostles, should cause our ordinances to be observed in all respects; that so your Excellency’s reputation, praiseworthy and well-pleasing to God, may extend itself all around. Given the 12th day of August, Indiction 13.
Epistle LVI.
To Marinianus, Bishop.
Gregory to Marinianus, Bishop of Ravenna.
Moved by the benevolence of the Apostolical See
and the order of ancient custom, we have thought fit to grant the use
of the pallium to thy Fraternity, who art known to have undertaken the
office of government in the Church of Ravenna With regard to the
use of the pallium claimed by, and allowed to, John, the preceding
bishop of Ravenna, see III. 56, 57; V. 11, 15. For further
contentions with Marinianus on the subject, see VI. 34, 61.
Salutatario: called in previous letters to Archbishop
John, secretarium. See III. 56, note 2.
Epistle LVII.
To John, Bishop.
Gregory to John, Bishop of the Corinthians
Now that our God, from
whom nothing is hidden, having cast out an atrocious plague of
pollution from the government of His Church See above, V. 52,
and Ep. LVIII., below.
Let, therefore, your solicitude towards your
subjects be worthy of praise. Let discipline be exhibited with
gentleness. Let rebuke be with discernment. Let kindness
mitigate wrath; let zeal sharpen kindness: and let one be so
seasoned with the other that neither immoderate punishment afflict more
than it ought, nor again laxity impair the rectitude of
discipline. Let the conduct of your Fraternity be a lesson to the
people committed to you. Let them see in you what to love, and
perceive what to make haste to imitate. Let them be taught how to
live by your example. Let them not deviate from the straight
course through your leading; let them find their way to God by following you; that so thou mayest receive as many
rewards from the Saviour of the human race as thou shalt have won souls
for Him. Labour therefore, most dear brother, and so direct the
whole activity of thy heart and soul, that thou mayest hereafter be
counted worthy to hear, Well done, thou good and faithful
servant: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord (
As you requested in your letter which we received through our brother and fellow-bishop Andrew, we have sent you the pallium, which it is necessary that you should so use as your predecessors, by the allowance of our predecessors, are proved to have used it.
Furthermore, it has come to our ears that in those parts
no one attains to any sacred order without the giving of a
consideration. If this, is so, I say with tears, I declare with
groans, that, when the priestly order has fallen inwardly, neither will
it stand long outwardly. For we know from the Gospel what our
Redeemer in person did; how He went into the temple, and overthrew the
seats of them that sold doves (
Further, your Fraternity knows that formerly the pallium was not given except for a consideration received. But, since this was incongruous, we held a council before the body of the blessed Peter, Prince of the apostles, and forbade under a strict interdiction the receiving of anything, as well for this as for ordinations.
It is your duty then, that neither for a consideration, nor for favour or the solicitation of certain persons, you consent to any persons being advanced to sacred orders. For it is a grave sin, as we have said, and we cannot suffer it to continue without reproof.
I delayed receiving the above named Andrew, our
brother and fellow-bishop, because by the report of our brother and
fellow-bishop Secundinus we learnt that he had forged letters, as to
himself from us, in the proceedings against John of Larissa See III. 6, 7.
Epistle LVIII.
To all the Bishops throughout Helladia Meaning, we may
suppose, the province of Achaia, of which Corinth was the
metropolis.
Gregory to all bishops constituted in the province of Helladia.
I return thanks with you, dearest brethren, to
Almighty God, who has caused the hidden sore
which the ancient enemy had introduced to come to the knowledge of all,
and has cut it away by a wholesome incision from the body of His
Church. Herein we have cause both to rejoice and to mourn; to
rejoice, that is, for
In
English Bible, xxii.
Furthermore, know ye that, having received the
letter of your Charity through Andrew our brother and fellow-bishop, we
have transmitted the pallium to John our brother, the bishop of the
Corinthians; whom it is by all means fitting that you should obey,
especially as the order of ancient custom claims this, and his good
qualities, to which you yourselves bear testimony, invite it. For
from the account given me by certain persons I have learnt that in
those parts no one attains to any sacred order without the giving of a
consideration. If this is so, I say with tears, I declare with
groans, that, when the priestly order has fallen inwardly, neither will
it be able to stand long outwardly. For we know from the Gospel
what our Redeemer did in person; how He went into the temple, and
overthrew the seats of them that sold doves. For in truth to sell
doves is to receive a temporal consideration for the Holy Spirit, whom,
being consubstantial with Himself, Almighty God gives to men through imposition of hands. And,
as I have said before, what follows from this evil is intimated; for
the seats of them that presumed to sell doves in the temple of
God fell by God’s judgment. And in truth this
transgression is propagated with increase among subordinates. For
he who is advanced to a sacred order already tainted in the very root
of his promotion is himself more prepared to sell to others what he has
bought. And where is that which is written, Freely ye have
received; freely give (
Epistle I.
To Marinianus, Bishop.
Gregory to Marinianus, Bishop of Ravenna.
As unjust demands should not be conceded, so the petition of such as desire what is lawful ought not to be set aside. Now your Fraternity’s presbyters, deacons and clergy have presented to us a petition complaining that the late John, your predecessor, made a will burdening his Church with various bequests. And they have petitioned that these, which are to the detriment of his Church, should under no excuse be paid, as being prohibited by law. And although, heredity and succession having been by him renounced, no reason binds thee to satisfy any such claims, nevertheless we hereby exhort thee over and above that with regard to such bequests as he has made, contrary to the ordinances of the laws, of property belonging to his Church, or acquired by him in his episcopate, your Fraternity neither lend your authority nor on any account consent to them. But, if he has wished or directed anything to be done with regard to his private property which he had before his episcopate, and which he had not previously bestowed upon his Church, it is necessary that this disposition should be held valid in all respects, and that no one of the ecclesiastics should attempt against reason on any pretext to set it aside.
But, inasmuch as during his life he often begged of us that we should confirm by our authority what he had conferred on the monastery which he had himself constructed near the church of Saint Apollinaris, and we promised to do this, we hold it needful to exhort your Fraternity to suffer nothing of what he has there conferred and constituted to be diminished, but to see to all being preserved and firmly established. Since, then, he is known to have made mention of this monastery, and of the property conferred on it, in the will which he made, you must know that we have not confirmed this part of it by reason of our following his last wishes, but because, as we have said, we promised it to him when he was alive. Let your Fraternity, therefore, make haste so carefully to accomplish all these things that both what was by him constituted and by us confirmed in the above-named monastery may be maintained, and what he has by will directed to be given or done to the detriment of his Church may have no validity, seeing that the law forbids it.
Epistle II.
To the Clergy and People of Ravenna.
Gregory to the clergy and people of the Church of Ravenna.
We have been informed that certain men, instigated
by the malignant spirit, have wished to corrupt your minds by false
speech with regard to the reputation of our brother and fellow-bishop
Marinianus See above, V. 48,
note 3. The ground of this
charge against Marinianus was doubtless his acceptance of the
condemnation of the “Three Chapters” by the fifth council,
which condemnation, notwithstanding Rome’s approval of it, was
still objected to in many quarters as contravening the council of
Chalcedon. See I. 16, note 3; IV. 2, note 1; IV. 38, 39; XIV.
12.
To Maximus of Salona.
Gregory to Maximus, pretender to the Church of
Salona Cf. III. 47, note
2. As is there stated, Maximus does not seem to have paid the
slightest attention to this letter.
As often as anything is said to have been done contrary to ecclesiastical discipline, we dare not leave it unexamined, lest we should be guilty before God for connivance. Now it has come to our ears that thou wast ordained by means of simoniacal heresy. Nay and many other things have been said of thee here, whereof there was one especially on account of which we held it needful to prohibit thee urgently by letter from celebrating the solemnities of mass until we might ascertain the state of the case more certainly. Wherefore, lest the children of the Church should be too long without a shepherd, and lest, in case of these things which are said remaining unexamined, vice of this nature should extend itself to many, we exhort thee to make haste to come to us, laying aside all excuses, to the end that with due regard to justice we may be able to gain knowledge of these things, and terminate them according to the canonical institutes, Christ shewing us the way. But do thou so act that there be no more of these successive delays of thy coming, lest thy very absence point thee out as the more obnoxious to these charges against thee, and lest we should be thus compelled to pass in council a harder sentence on thee, not only for thy alleged crimes from which thou evadest purging thyself, but also for the fault of disobedience, to wit as one that is contumacious.
Epistle V.
To Queen Brunichild.
Gregory to Brunichild, Queen of the
Franks This is the
first of the ten letters of Gregory to the notorious Brunechild.
A daughter of Athanagild, king of the Visigoths in Spain, she had
married Sigebert I., one of the grandsons of Clovis, who reigned over
that part of the dominion of the Franks which was called Austrasia,
having on her marriage renounced Arianism for Catholicity.
Sigebert having been assassinated a.d. 575,
his son Childebert II., then only five years old, was proclaimed King
of Austrasia; whereupon Brunechild herself became the virtual ruler of
the kingdom. So she was again after the death of Childebert,
a.d. 596, as guardian of Theodebert II., his
illegitimate son, who succeeded him at the age of ten years. See
Pedigree of Kings of Gaul, p. xxx. The praises lavished on her by
Gregory in this and his other epistles to her appear strangely
inconsistent with the character given her by the historians of the
time. It has been suggested in explanation; 1. That the
historians may have maligned her, attributing to her crimes that were
not her own; 2. That, whatever her misdemeanours, Gregory might not
have heard of them, knowing of her only as a faithful Catholic, and a
supporter of the Church; 3. That no such misdemeanours had become
notorious when Gregory wrote to her in such flattering terms, the worst
doings imputed to her having in fact been after his death. She
survived him some nine years. Still, when we consider
Gregory’s diplomatic turn, together with his habitual deference
to potentates apparent elsewhere, we cannot think it unlikely that he
might ignore purposely in his addresses to them even their known moral
delinquencies, so long as he could enlist their support of religion and
orthodoxy, or their loyalty to the see of Rome. And, after all,
Brunechild may not have been much worse than some other Frank
royalties, all of whom he would be naturally and properly desirous of
conciliating, and making the best of them he could. A less
defensible instance of apparently politic flattery is found in his
letters to the Emperor Phocas and his Empress Leontia after the
deposition and murder of Mauricius. See XIII. 31, 38, 39, and
Proleg., p. xxvii.
The laudable and God-pleasing goodness of your
Excellence is manifested both by your government of your kingdom and by
your education of your son Childebert II.
(see last note), who had been a minor when he came to the throne.
He would now, if the epistle was written, as supposed, in the 14th
Indiction (595–6), be about 25 years old. Since the
death of his uncle Guntramn, a.d. 593, he had
become King of Burgundy as well as of Austrasia.
Now inasmuch as past experience in many instances
gives us confidence in the Christianity of your Excellence, we beg of
you, for the love of Peter, Prince of the apostles, whom we know that
you love with your whole heart, that you would cherish with the aid of
your patronage our most beloved son the presbyter Candidus It was the
sending of Candidus, a presbyter from Rome, to take charge of the
patrimony in Gaul in place of Dynamius, a patrician, who had previously
managed it (see Ep. 6), that offered occasion for this and the
following letter.
Epistle VI.
To King Childebert.
Gregory to Childebert, King of the Franks Cf. last Epistle,
notes 5, 6, 7.
As much as royal dignity is above that of other men, so much in truth does the high position of your kingdom excel that of the kingdoms of other nations. And yet to be a king is not extraordinary, there being others also; but to be a Catholic, which others are not counted worthy to be, this is enough. For as the splendour of a great lamp shines by the clearness of its light in the darkness of earth’s night, so the clear light of your faith glitters and flashes amid the dark perfidy of other nations. Whatever the other kings glory in having you have. But they are in this regard exceedingly surpassed, because they have not the chief good thing which you have. In order, then, that they may be overcome in action as well as in faith, let your Excellence always shew yourself kind to your subjects. And, if there are any things such as to offend your mind, punish them not without enquiry. For then you will the more please the King of kings, that is the Almighty Lord, if, restraining your power, you feel that you may not do all that you can.
Now that you keep purity of faith both in mind and
deed, the love that is in you of the blessed Peter, Prince of the
apostles, evidently shews, whose property has been so far well governed
and preserved under the sway of your supremacy. But since
Dynamius the Patrician, who on our recommendation looked after this
property, is not able, as we have learnt, to govern it now, lest the
little patrimony which is in your parts should be ruined from neglect,
we have therefore sent the bearer of these presents, our most beloved
son the presbyter Candidus See last Epistle
note 8.
Moreover we have sent to your Excellency Saint
Peter’s keys, containing a portion of his chains, to protect you
from all evils, when hung on your neck See IV. 30.
Epistle VII.
To Candidus, Presbyter.
Gregory to Candidus, Presbyter, going to the patrimony of Gaul.
Now that thou art proceeding, with the help of our
Lord God Jesus
Christ, to the government of the patrimony that is in Gaul, we desire
thy Love to procure with the money thou mayest receive clothing for the
poor, or English boys of about seventeen or eighteen years of age, who
may profit by being given to God in
monasteries, that so the money of Gaul, which cannot be spent in our
country Probably because
of the inferior value in Italy of Gallic gold. “Nullus
solidum integri ponderis calumniosæ approbationis obtentu recuset
exactor, excepto eo Gallico cujus aurum minore æstimatione
taxatur.” Novella Majoriani. Some kind of
due, so-called. See Du Cange under Ablata:—“Ablatio, Exactio,
Tolta…‘Liberos deinceps esse constituimus ab omni tallia,
ablatione et exactione, et questu.’ (A.
1173).’
Epistle VIII.
To the Bishops of Epirus.
Gregory to Theodorus, Demetrius, Philip, Zeno, and Alcissonus, Bishops of Epirus.
The notification of your letters, most dear
brethren, has made known to us that our brother Andrew has, by the
favour of God, been solemnly ordained bishop
of the city of Nicopolis. And, since you signify that his
consecration has taken place with the assent of the clergy and
provincials, we rejoice; and we pray that the good which you testify of
him may remain in him, and by the co-operation of God’s grace receive increase, since the goodness of
prelates is the safety of their subordinates. It is your duty
then to make haste studiously to imitate what you show by your praises
to be pleasing to you in his person. For it is faulty before men
and penal
Moreover be ye attentive, most dear brethren, and bestow on the flock committed to you the vigilance which ye have taken upon yourselves, and which ye owe; meet the frauds of the enemy by attention and prayer. Surrender with uncontaminated faith to our God the people over which ye are, that your priestly office may avail you not for a penalty but for a crown before the sight of the eternal Judge.
Know ye then that we have sent a pallium to the above-written Andrew our brother and fellow-bishop, and have granted him all the privileges which our predecessors conferred on his predecessors.
Furthermore, it has come to our ears that sacred
orders in your parts are conferred for a consideration given.
And, if this is so, I say it with tears, I declare it with groans,
&c. [See Lib. V. This form of protest
against simony is found, in the same words, in several other
letters.
Epistle IX.
To Donus, Bishop.
Gregory to Donus, Bishop of Messana (Messene).
Moved by the benevolence of the Apostolic See, and by the order of ancient custom, we have thought fit to grant to thee, who art known to have undertaken the office of government in the Church of Messana, the use of the pallium; to wit, at such times and in such manner as we dispute not that thy predecessor used it; at the same time warning thee that, as thou rejoicest in having received from us a decoration of this kind to the honour of thy priestly office, so also thou strive, by probity of manners and deeds, to adorn, to the glory of Christ, the office which thou hast undertaken under our authority. For so wilt thou be conspicuous for decorations mutually answering to each other, if with such an habiliment of the body as this all good qualities of thy soul also agree. For all the privileges which are known to have been granted of old to thy Church we confirm by our authority, and decree that they shall continue inviolate.
Epistle XII.
To Montana and Thomas.
Gregory to Montana, &c.
Since our Redeemer, the Maker of every creature, vouchsafed to assume human flesh for this end, that, the chain of slavery wherewith we were held being broken by the grace of His Divinity, He might restore us to pristine liberty, it is a salutary deed if men whom nature originally produced free, and whom the law of nations has subjected to the yoke of slavery, be restored by the benefit of manumission to the liberty in which they were born. And so, moved by loving-kindness and by consideration of this case, we make you, Montana and Thomas, servants of the holy Roman Church which with the help of God we serve, free from this day, and Roman citizens, and we release to you all your private property.
And, inasmuch as thou, Montana, declarest that
thou hast applied thy mind to monastic profession, we therefore this
day give and grant to thee two unciæ, which the presbyter
Gaudiosus by the disposition of his last will is known to have left to
thee in the way of institution
Institutionis; a legal term, denoting apparently the
constituting of a person as an inheriter.
Done in the city of Rome.
Epistle XIV.
To the Count Narses On the case of John
of Chalcedon and Athanasius of Isaura, referred to in this and the
three following letters, see III. 53, note 9.
Gregory to Narses, &c.
Your Charity, being anxious to learn our opinion,
has been at the pains of writing to us to ask what we think of the book
against the presbyter Athanasius which was sent to us. Having
thoroughly perused some parts of it, we find that he has fallen into
the dogma of Manichæus. But he who has noted some places as
heretical by a mark set against them slips also himself into Pelagian
heresy; for he has marked certain places as heretical which are
catholicly expressed and entirely orthodox. For when this is
written; that when Adam sinned his soul died, the writer shews
afterwards how it is said to have died, namely that it lost the
blessedness of its condition. Whosoever denies this is not a
Catholic. For God had said, In the
hour ye eat thereof, in death ye shall die ( Cf. VII. 34 and
IX. 49, where the same argument, in nearly the same words, is set
forth. The reference may
be to Canon xxviii. of the Council of Chalcedon, assigning rank and
jurisdiction to the patriarchs of Constantinople, which was protested
against by the Roman legates at the Council and afterwards disallowed
by Pope Leo. It is omitted in the Latin version of the canons
published by Dionysius Exiguus about the beginning of the sixth
century, though it had been in the Prisca Versio which he
amended. It appears as if Gregory, not finding it in the Latin
version before him, supposed it to have been interpolated at
Constantinople; the fact being that it had been purposely omitted at
Rome, as not having the Pope’s sanction. If such is the
allusion, it may seem strange that Gregory did not know the
circumstances better. But this is not the only instance of his
imperfect knowledge of past events, even in ecclesiastical
matters. Cf. II. 51, note 2.
Now concerning the presbyter John, know that his case has been decided in synod, whereby I have clearly ascertained that his adversaries have wished and long endeavoured to make him out a heretic, but have entirely failed.
Salute in my name your friends, who are ours: ours also, who are yours, salute you heartily through me. May Almighty God protect thee with His hand in the midst of so many thorns, that thou mayest, unhurt, gather those flowers which the Lord hath chosen.
Epistle XV.
To John, Bishop.
Gregory to John, Bishop of Constantinople.
As the pravity of heretics is to be repressed by the zeal of a right faith, so the integrity of a true confession is to be embraced. For, if one who declares himself sound in the faith is scorned, the faith of all is brought into doubt, and fatal errors are generated from inconsiderate strictness. And hence not only are wandering sheep not recalled to their Lord’s folds, but even those that are within them are exposed to be cruelly torn by the teeth of wild beasts. Let us then fully consider this, most dear brother, and not suffer any one who truly professes the catholic faith to be distressed under pretext of heresy, nor (which God forbid) allow heresy to grow the more under shew of correcting it.
But we have wondered much why those who were deputed by you as judges in a matter of faith against John, presbyter of the church of Chalcedon, believed report, disregarding truth, and would not believe him when he distinct professed his faith; especially as his accusers, when asked what was the heresy of the Marcionists which they spoke of, and on the ground of which they endeavoured to make him out guilty, replied by a plain confession that they did not know. From which circumstance it evidently comes out that, without regard to God, not justly, but against their own souls, they were desirous only of injuring him personally of their own mere will. We therefore, after Council held (as the tenor of the proceedings before us shews), having thoroughly examined and considered all that was necessary. inasmuch as we have been unable to find the aforesaid presbyter in any respect guilty, and especially as the plea which he delivered to the judges delegated by you is in entire accordance with the integrity of a right faith, we I say on this account, disapproving the sentence of the said judges, through the revealing grace of Christ our God and Redeemer, pronounce him by our definite sentence catholic and free from all charge of heresy. Seeing, then, that we have sent him back to your Holiness, it is for you to receive him with the kindness which you shew to all, and bestow on him your priestly charity, and defend him from all molestation, nor allow any one to busy himself in causing him trouble: but, as you defend others from oppression, so from him ought you not to withhold your succour.
Epistle XVI.
To Mauricius, Augustus.
Gregory to Mauricius, &c.
Seeing that in you, most Christian of princes,
uncorrupt soundness of faith shines as a beam sent down from heaven,
and that it is known to all that your Serenity embraces fervently and
loves with entire devotion of heart the pure profession in which by
God’s favour you are powerful, we have
perceived it to be very necessary to make request for those whom one
and the same faith enlightens, to the end that the Piety of our lords
may protect them with its favour, and defend them from all
molestation. When certain men scorn the confession of faith of
such persons they are shewn to contradict the true faith. For,
since the Apostle declares that confession of the mouth is made unto
salvation, he who will not consent to believe a right profession
accuses himself in rejecting others (
Now all the proceedings against John, presbyter of the
church of Chalcedon, having been read in council and considered in
order, we have found that he has suffered the greater injustice in
that, when he declared and shewed himself to be a Catholic, it was not
his guilt, but an uncertain accusation of long standing, that crushed
him; and this to such an extent that his accusers declared in their
open reply that they did not know the heresy of the Marcionists which
they referred to. And, whereas they ought therefore to have been
rejected from the very beginning of the trial, they were allowed, vague
as they were, to remain in court for his accusation. But, lest at
any rate alleged report might injure him, he produced a written
confession of his faith with the purpose of shewing evidently that he
was a professor and follower of the right faith. But this the
judges deputed by the most holy John, our brother and fellow-bishop,
unjustly and unreasonably disregarded; and so, in doing all they could
to put him down, shewed themselves more to blame than he. For no
one doubts that it is unfaithfulness not to have
These things therefore let the most Serene lord with pious precaution consider, and, as I have already requested, with profuse entreaties I again implore, that he allow not an innocent man to be afflicted anew as though he were guilty; to the end that Almighty God, who sees your Clemency love and defend the purity of catholic rectitude, may cause you both to rule over a pacified republic with your foes subdued, and to reign with His saints in life eternal.
Epistle XVII.
To Theotistus.
Gregory to Theotistus, kinsman of the Emperor.
We know that the Christianity of your Excellency is always intent on good works and therefore we provide for you occasions for reaping reward, which you are certain to be glad of, so that we by so providing may have a share in your merits.
We therefore inform you that John the presbyter, the bearer of these presents, has come out free from those by whom he had been accused. For having, according to his request held a council, and subjected his faith to a subtle scrutiny, we found him guiltless of any wrong confession. And, inasmuch as he appeared to be, by the mercy of God, a professor and follower of the right faith, we absolved him by our definite sentence; especially as his accusers professed that they did not know what the heresy of the Marcionists, which they spoke of, was. On this account, saluting you with paternal affection, we request you to protect him with the grace of your favour. And, lest any one hereafter should be disposed to afflict him to no purpose, or in any way to cause him annoyance in this matter, let the advocacy of your Excellency so protest and defend him—and this the more instantly in consideration of your own reward—that no unjust affliction may any more consume him, and that the Creator and Redeemer of the human race, whom you worship with a sincere confession, may recompense your action in this behalf among your many good works. The month of October. Indiction 14.
Epistle XVIII.
To John, Bishop.
Gregory to John, Bishop of Syracuse.
Moved by the benevolence of the Apostolic See and by the order of ancient custom, we have thought fit to grant to thy Fraternity, who art known to have received the office of government in the Church of Syracuse, the use of the pallium; that is, at such times and in such manner as thou knowest without doubt that it was used by thy predecessor; nevertheless admonishing thee that, as thou rejoicest in having received from us the use of this decoration for the honour of thy priestly office, so also by probity of manners and deeds thou strive to adorn the office thou hast received unto our glory in Christ. For thus wilt thou be conspicuous for decorations mutually answering to each other, if with this habit for the body the excellence also of thy mind agrees.
For all privileges which are known to have been granted formerly to thy Church we confirm by our authority, and decree that they shall remain inviolate.
Epistle XXII.
To Peter, Bishop.
Gregory to Peter, Bishop of Aleria in Corsica.
Inasmuch as in the isle of Corsica, at the place
Nigeunum, in the possession which is called Cellas Cupias belonging to
the holy Roman Church, which by the providence of God we serve, we have ordered to be founded a basilica,
with a baptistery Baptisteries were
anciently buildings contiguous to but apart from the churches.
Cf. III. 59, note 7.
Epistle XXIV.
To Marinianus, Bishop.
Gregory to Marinianus, Bishop of Ravenna.
We have received by the deacon Virgilius
See III. 53,
note 9, and reff there. It seems from what Gregory here
says, that it was not in the East only, but also in Italy, at Ravenna,
that the authority of the Roman See met with opposition, perhaps mainly
on the ground of Ravenna having been an Imperial city, and being still
the seat of the Exarch of Italy. Cf. III. 57, note 4.
Spatam. Cf. VI. 61, note 8.
Epistle XXV.
To Maximus of Salona.
Gregory to Maximus, intruder in the Church of
Salona See III. 47, note
2.
While, seeking this or that excuse, thou deferrest obedience to our letters, while thou puttest off coming to us for ascertainment of the truth after being so often admonished, thou lendest credibility all the more to what is alleged against thee; and, even though there had been nothing else to go against thee and do thee harm, thy delay alone would render thee culpable and accuse thee. Humble thyself at length, and submit thyself to obedience, and make haste to come to us without any excuses, that, the truth being investigated and ascertained, in the fear of God, whatever may be fair and canonical may be decided. For be assured that we will observe towards thee justice and the ordinances of the canons, and, by the revelation of God, who is the Author of truth, will terminate thy cause agreeably to justice. For, as to thy demand that we should send some one to your city, in whose presence there might be proof of the things alleged, this would be in some degree excusable, if reason ever imposed on the accused the necessity of proof. But, inasmuch as this burden lies not on thee but on thine accusers, do not thou hesitate to come to us, as we have before said, putting it off no longer; and either thine accuser will be present without delay to support with suitable proof what has been alleged as to simoniacal heresy or other things; or certainly, as far as regards a sound settlement of this business, a just dealing with it will, through the intervention of Peter, Prince of the apostles, ensue; that so no guiltiness may confound us before God for any connivance, now that these things have come to our knowledge. But, as to thy allegation that our most serene lords have ordered cognizance of the matter to be taken in your city, we indeed have received no other commands of theirs on the subject except that thou wert to come to us. But, even if by chance, occupied as they are by many thoughts and anxieties for the good of their republic which by the divine bounty has been granted to them, this has been suggested to them, and a command has been surreptitiously elicited from them, yet, inasmuch as it is known to us and to all how our most pious lords love discipline, observe degrees, venerate the canons, and refrain from mixing themselves up in the causes of priests, we will still execute with instancy what is for the good both of their souls and of the republic, and what we are driven to by regard to the terrible and tremendous judgment.
Cease then from all excuses, and delay not to appear
here, that, fortified by investigation of the truth, we may at length
bring thy cause to a termination. But, whereas we have been
informed that thou art greatly afraid and altogether in trepidation
lest we should avenge on
Now inasmuch as we long ago sent thee a letter warning thee by no means to dare to celebrate the solemnities of mass till we should ascertain the will of the said our most serene lord, and as thou hast cunningly contrived that this letter should not come into thy hands, though thou nevertheless knewest in one way or another what its purport was, but hast refused to comply with it;—we therefore confirm what was before sent thee in writing, that thou must not dare to celebrate the solemnities of mass until all that has been alleged against thee has been thoroughly enquired into and sifted. And, if, with perverse daring, thou shouldest presume to celebrate, know that thou art not free from the former threat of interdiction from communion. For, even though there were no other transgressions, we deprive thee of the communion of the body and blood of the Lord for this sin of pride alone. Wherefore, shewing the obedience that becomes thee, make haste, as we have said, with all diligence to come to us; but so as to have a space of thirty days for preparing for thy journey; and so, laying aside all excuses, defer not thy appearance here.
Moreover, if any occasion of hindering thy journey has arisen from the judges, or the military force, or the people, we acknowledge the skilfulness with which things are done. Do thou thyself, then, see what account of this obligation, thou canst render either to men here or to Almighty God in the future judgment, having by thy contempt provoked a strict sentence against thee.
Furthermore, it has come to my knowledge that my
brother and fellow-bishop Paulinus, and Honoratus, archdeacon of the
Church of Salona In the letter to
the Salonitans, which follows, it appears that Honoratus only among the
clergy of Salona (having been the rival candidate for the bishopric and
supported by the Pope), and Paulinus only among the suffragan bishops,
had refused to communicate with Maximus.
Epistle XXVI.
To the Salonitans.
Gregory to his most beloved sons, the clergy and
nobles dwelling at Salona See III. 47, note
2.
It has come to my ears, that certain men of perverse disposition, in order to poison your minds, beloved, have tried to insinuate to you that I am moved by some grudge against Maximus, and that I am desiring to carry out not so much what is canonical as what anger dictates. But far, far be it from the priestly mind to be moved in any cause by private feeling. It is on the contrary as taking thought for you, beloved, and as fearing the judgment of Almighty God on my own soul, that I desire the case of this same Maximus to be thoroughly investigated, as to whether he is burdened by no such crimes as are a bar to ordination, and makes no attempt to attain to the priestly office through simoniacal heresy; that is by giving bribes to some of his electors. He will then be a free intercessor for you before the Lord, if he shall come to the place of intercession bound by no sins of his own.
And yet his sin of pride is already manifestly shewn, in that, having been summoned to come to us, he resists under various excuses, shuns coming, is afraid to come. What then is he afraid of, if his conscience does not accuse him with respect to the things he is charged with? Lo, beloved, ye have now been long without a pastor, and may Almighty God make known to you how earnestly and from the bottom of my heart I sympathize with you in your destitution. For I hear what ravages are being made in the Lord’s flock. But, when there is no shepherd, who may watch against the wolves? Wherefore urge ye the aforesaid Maximus to come hither to us, to the end that we may confirm him if we are able to find him innocent; but, if the things that are said of him should turn out to be true, that you, beloved, may be no longer left destitute through the interposition of his person.
For as to me, be assured that I am not moved against him by any grudge or any animosity of private feeling; but whatever may be canonical and just with the help of God I will determine.
For you ought, most dear sons, to have considered your own orders, and recognized as rejected him whom the Apostolical See rejected, that he might first be purged, if he could be, from the charges brought against him, and that then your Love might communicate with him without being partakers in his liability. We however are bound to your Charity in the bowels of loving-kindness; and, since we have learnt that some of you were pressed by force to accept him and communicate with him, we implore Almighty God to absolve you from all guilt of your own sins and from all implication in the liability of others, and to give you the grace of His protection in the present life, and grant to us to rejoice for you in the eternal country.
Epistle XXVII.
To the Clergy and People of Jadera See III. 47, note
2. Jadera was one of the sees in the province of Dalmatia of
which Salona was the Metropolis. The bishop of Jadera,
Sabinianus, had communicated with Maximus, and probably assisted in
ordaining him, but afterwards repented. See below, VII. 17; VIII.
l0, 24. It may have been because Gregory had heard that there was
already a party in Jadera prepared to renounce Maximus that he wrote
this letter to strengthen it.
Gregory to the presbyters, deacons, and clergy, nobles and people, dwelling at Jadera, and who have communicated with the prevaricator Maximus.
It has come to my knowledge that some of you, deceived by ignorance or under compulsion, have communicated with those who, their fault as you know requiring it, have been deprived of communion by the Apostolic See, but that others, with wholesome discretion, have under the Lord’s protection abstained; and as much as I rejoice in those that have been constant so much do I groan for those who have gone astray, since they have partaken of the mysteries of holy communion, which have been granted to us by Divine loving-kindness for absolution, rather to the detriment of their souls. And because (as I pray Almighty God to make known to you) I earnestly and from the bottom of my heart sympathize will your Charity, I adjure and entreat you with fatherly affection, that every one of you abstain from unlawful communion, and altogether shun those whom the Apostolic See does not receive into the fellowship of its communion, lest any one should stand guilty in the sight of the eternal Judge from that whereby he might have been saved.
Moreover I have discovered that certain men of perverse mind in your parts have tried to insinuate that I am moved against Maximus by some grudge, and that I desire to carry out not what is canonical, but what anger dictates. But far, far be this from the priestly mind, that it should be moved in any cause by private animosity. But as for me, it is as taking thought for the people dwelling in those parts and for my own soul, and as fearing the judgment of Almighty God, that I wish to have the cause of this Maximus enquired into, and, God shewing me the way, to decide canonically. Now, inasmuch as I have written to him frequently that he was not to celebrate the sacred solemnities of mass until I had been able to obtain knowledge of his case, he would in any case be deprived of communion; and now his sin of pride is openly shewn from this,—that, having (as I have said) been often admonished to come to us, under various excuses he refuses, he shuns, he fears coming. What then is he afraid of, if his conscience does not accuse him with regard to the things that have been said? Since then you know these things, now that you can make no excuse on the plea of ignorance, I beseech, I exhort, I warn you, that you altogether refrain from fellowship with forbidden communion, and that not one of you presume, against his own soul, to communicate with any priest who communicates with the above written Maximus.
Since however I hear, as I have said before, that some of you fell in ignorance, and that some were even driven by force to communicate, I implore the Almighty Lord, that He would keep with His perpetual protection, and answer with His wished for bounty, those who have given no assent to this iniquity; and as to those whom either party spirit, or ignorance, or any other cause soever, has drawn into a fault, that He would absolve them from all guilt of their sins, and from all implication in the liability of others, and both give them all the grace of His protection in the present life, and grant to me to rejoice for them in the eternal country. Wherefore, that this intercession may avail for you with God our Saviour, do ye shew obedience to our exhortations for the weal of your souls, and receive the holy communion from those whom ye know to have abstained, and to abstain still, from communion with the aforesaid Maximus.
To Marinianus, Bishop.
Gregory to Marinianus, Bishop of Ravenna Cf. above, VI.
1.
We wonder why the discernment of thy Fraternity should have been so changed in a short time that it does not consider what it asks for. On this account we grieve, since thou affordest manifest proof that the words of evil counsellors have availed with thee more than the study of divine lore has profited thee. And, when thou oughtest to be protecting monasteries, and with all thy power congregating the religious therein so as to make gain from the gathering together of souls, thou art on the contrary desiring to exercise thyself in oppressing them, as thy letters testify; and, what is worse, art trying to make us partakers in thy fault; to wit, in wishing, with our consent, to oppress the monastery which thy predecessor founded under the name of looking after its property and business affairs.
For thou oughtest to call to mind that, in thy presence, and in the presence also of sundry of thy presbyters, deacons, and clerics, we granted, as they requested, a precept contrary to the testament of thy predecessor. Yet, though the disposition he had made with regard to the monastery itself was still therein confirmed, thou now dissemblest this, and demandest of us that we should order the contrary. And indeed we know that this device is not thine own; but, when thou refusest not to listen to those who say incongruous things, thou injurest not only thine own reputation, but also souls. Since, then, I love thee much, I urgently admonish thee—consider this attentively—that thou care not more for money than for souls. The former should be regarded collaterally; but the latter should be regarded with the whole bent of the mind, and vehemently striven after. On this spend vigilantly thy labour and solicitude, since our Redeemer seeks from the priest’s office not gold, but souls.
Further, it has reached our ears that monasteries which are constituted under thy Fraternity are oppressed by importunities and various annoyances from the clergy. That this may no longer be so, restrain it by strict prohibition, to the end that the monks who live therein may be able to exult freely in the praises of our God.
With regard to the clerics Romanus and Dominicus, who presumed with rash daring to depart from this city without our blessing, though they were to have been stricken with heavier punishment, nevertheless such relaxation ought to be made in a spirit of kindness that they be urged to come back to their duty. The month of April, Indict. 14.
Epistle XXX.
To Secundus.
Gregory to Secundus, servant of God at Ravenna Gregory appears to
have communicated with this Secundus, rather than with the bishop of
Ravenna, for reasons which appear below, and to have employed him in
negotiations with the Exarch for peace with the Lombards.
Now that Castorius A Castorius is
mentioned in Gregory’s letter to the Emperor as having been the
magister militum in command at Rome during its siege by
Agilulph. This may be the same person.
Stir up with such words as thou canst use our
brother the bishop Marinianus For his appointment
to the see of Ravenna, cf. V. 48.
Tell him, then, that with his place he should change his
disposition too. Let him not believe reading and prayer alone to
be enough for him, so that he should think to sit apart, and nowise
fructify with his hand; but let him have a liberal hand; let him
succour those who suffer need; let him believe the wants of others to
be his own; since, if he has not these things, he bears but a
bishop’s empty name. I did indeed give him some admonitions
about his soul in my letter; but he
Epistle XXXII.
To Fortunatus, Bishop.
Gregory to Fortunatus, Bishop of Neapolis (Naples).
We have written before now to your Fraternity
that, if any [slaves] by the inspiration of God, desire to come from Jewish superstition to the
Christian faith, their masters have no liberty to sell them, but that
from the time of their declaring their wish they have a full claim to
freedom. But since, so far as we have learnt, they [i.e. Jewish
masters], weighing with nice discrimination neither our wish nor the
ordinances of the law, think that they are not bound by this condition
in the case of pagan slaves, your Fraternity ought to attend to such
cases, and, if any one of their slaves, whether he be a Jew or a pagan,
should wish to become a Christian, after his wish has been openly
declared, let not any one of the Jews, under cover of any device or
argument whatever, have power to sell him; but let him who desires to
be converted to the Christian faith be in all ways supported by you in
his claim to freedom. Lest, however, those who have to lose
slaves of this kind should consider that their interests are
unreasonably prejudiced, it is fitting that with careful consideration
you should observe this rule;—that if pagans when they have been
brought out of foreign parts for the sake of traffic should chance to
flee to the Church, and say that they wish to become Christians, or
even outside the Church should announce this wish, then, till the end
of three months during which a buyer to sell them to may be sought for,
they [the Jewish owners] may receive their price; that is to say, from
a Christian buyer. But if after the aforesaid three months any
one of such slaves should declare his wish and desire to become a
Christian, let not either any one afterwards dare to buy him, or his
master, under colour of any occasion whatever, dare to sell him; but
let him unreservedly attain to the benefit of freedom; since he (i.e.
the master) is in such case understood to have acquired him not for
sale but for his own service. Let, then, your Fraternity so
vigilantly observe all these things that neither the supplication of
any nor respect of persons may avail to inveigle you As to
ownership by Jews of converted slaves, see Prolegom., p. xxi.,
and other Epistles there referred to.
Epistle XXXIV.
To Castorius, Notary.
Gregory to Castorius, our notary at Ravenna.
When Florentinus, deacon of the Church of Ravenna,
treated with us in behalf of our most reverend brother and
fellow-bishop Marinianus concerning the use of the pallium, on our
asking him what was the ancient custom, he replied that the bishop of
the Church of Ravenna used the pallium in all litanies Marinianus had
succeeded John as bishop of Ravenna. For Gregory’s dispute
with John concerning the use of the pallium, see above, III. 56, 57; V.
11, 15, and below, VI. 61.
Epistle XXXV.
To Anthemius, Subdeacon.
Gregory to Anthemius, our Neapolitan
Sub-deacon The occasion of
this letter seems to have been some recent aggression of the Lombards
in the Neopolitan district, resulting in the capture of many prisoners
of war.
How great is our grief, and how great the affliction of our heart, from what has taken place in the regions of Campania we cannot express; but thou mayest thyself gather it from the greatness of the calamity. With regard to this state of things, we send thy Experience by the magnificent Stephen, bearer of these presents, money for the succour of the captives who have been taken, admonishing thee that thou give thy whole attention to the business, and carry it out strenuously; and, in the case of freemen whom thou knowest to have no sufficient means for their own redemption, that thou make haste to redeem them. But, should there be any slaves, and thou findest that their masters are so poor that they cannot come forward to redeem them, hesitate not to recover them also. In like manner also thou wilt take care to redeem the slaves of the Church who have been lost by thy neglect. Further, whomsoever thou shalt have redeemed, thou wilt by all means be at pains to make out a list, containing their names, and a statement of where each is staying, and what he is doing, and where he came from; which list thou mayest bring with thee when thou comest. Moreover, hasten to shew thyself so diligent in this business that those who are to be redeemed may incur no risk through thy negligence, or thou come afterwards to be highly culpable before us. But work especially for this also; that, if possible, thou mayest be able to recover those captives at a moderate price. But set down in writing, with all clearness and nicety, the whole sum expended, and transmit to us this thy written account with speed. The month of May, Indiction 14.
Epistle XXXVII.
To Columbus, Bishop.
Gregory to Columbus, Bishop of Numidia. See II. 48, note
7.
The letters of your Fraternity, full of priestly sweetness, we have received at the hands of Rogatianus the deacon, the bearer of these presents. And their kind expressions rejoiced us much, especially as we were informed through them of what we long to hear of, your welfare. But the devotion of your Holiness we have both known of old; and as you now write, so we hold it to be. For of what kind the sincerity of your Fraternity towards us is we need nothing to satisfy us, since we know it from the love of our own heart which encircles you. We have given to the above-named hearer, whom you commended to us by letter, writings addressed to the Rector of the patrimony of Sicily, bidding him urge the opposite party to do what is just, to the end that, idle excuses being put aside, the whole case in dispute may be speedily brought to an end.
We now inform your Holiness that a certain man has come to us, Peter by name, who asserted that he was a bishop, and requested from us a remedy of his complaint. And at first indeed he related things that might have been deserving of pity; but on enquiry we found things to be very different from what he told us, and his behaviour has exceedingly distressed us. But, inasmuch as, separated as we are by so great a distance, we could by no means learn thoroughly the gist of his case, we have been unable to determine it, being in doubt. But now, seeing that the aforesaid deacon, who is returning to you, has asked that this person should be allowed to go with him, and he himself has requested to be sent to you, both of them knowing that your Holiness has, as becomes you, zeal for the faith and a love of justice, the proposal has been acceptable to us, and we have granted what they asked. Since, then, you being on the spot can ascertain the merits of the case more thoroughly, we exhort you so to observe what is just and canonical towards the same Peter that both the requirements of rectitude may be fulfilled by you in all respects, and his case may be seen to have been judged after the fear of God and the rules of the Church. But, if any one is said to have been privy to, or a partaker in, the things which the aforesaid Peter is accused of, accurate enquiry must be made, and, when the truth is known, judgment in like manner pronounced canonically.
Furthermore, a thing altogether hard to be borne,
and hostile to the right faith, has come to our ears; namely that
catholics (which is awful to be told) and religious persons
Religiosi. See I. 61, note 7.
Epistle XLIII.
To Venantius, Patrician.
Gregory to Venantius, Patrician, and
Ex-monk Cf. I. 34, note
8.
Your communication to us has found us much distressed from having become aware that offence has arisen between you and John our brother and fellow-bishop, in whose agreement with you we were desirous of rejoicing. For, whatever the cause may have been, rage ought not to have broken out to such a pitch that your armed men, as we have heard, should have burst into the episcopal palace, and committed divers evil deeds in a hostile manner, and that this affair should meanwhile separate you from his paternal charity. Could not the dispute, whatever it may have been, have been quietly arranged, so that neither party might suffer disadvantage, nor good feeling be disturbed? Now it is not unknown to us of what gravity, of what holiness, of what gentleness our above-named brother is. Whence we gather that, unless excessive force of vexation had compelled him, his Fraternity would by no means have resorted to the measure by which you say that you are aggrieved. We, however, on hearing of it by letter from him, at once wrote to him, admonishing him to receive your offerings as before, and not only to allow masses to be celebrated in your house, but, if you wish it, even to officiate himself, and that he ought to have prosecuted his cause without breach of charity. And, inasmuch as we wish none to come or continue to be at variance, we have taken care to renew this same admonition. Hence it is necessary, dearest son, that you, as becomes sons, should shew him the reverence due to a priest, and not provoke his spirit to anger. For with whom will you have assured goodwill, if (which God forbid) you are at variance with your priest? Wherefore, putting away swelling of spirit, try ye so to transact the causes that ye have one with another that both charity may remain inviolate, and what is to your mutual advantage may be peaceably attained.
Epistle XLIV.
To John, Bishop.
Gregory to John, Bishop of Syracuse Cf. preceding
Epistle. John, previously archdeacon of Catana, had been elected
in the previous year (594) with Gregory’s approval as the
successor of Maximianus of Syracuse (V. 17), and had recently had the
pallium sent him. (VI. 18.).
Although there may have been cause to provoke the spirit of your Fraternity not unreasonably to anger, so that you would neither receive the offerings of the Lord Venantius nor allow the sacred solemnities of mass to be celebrated in his house, yet, inasmuch as our earthly interests should be prosecuted in such a manner that no quarrel may avail to sever us from the bond of charity, we therefore exhort your Holiness, as we have already written, that you should both receive the offerings of the aforesaid man with all sweetness and God-pleasing sincerity, and allow the mysteries of the mass to be performed in his house; and that, as we have written, you should, if perchance he should wish it, go there in person, and by celebrating mass with him renew your former friendly feeling. For it is your duty to bestow priestly affection on sons, though still, in causes that may arise, by no means to pretermit, as reason approves, the jurisdiction of your Church. Wherefore, considering this, it is necessary that your Fraternity should try so to demean yourself with discreet moderation with respect to these matters as both to transact advantageously what the nature of the business requires, and not to recede from the grace of paternal charity.
Epistle XLVI.
To Felix, Bishop of Pisaurum (Pesaro).
Gregory to Felix, Bishop, &c.
We wonder at your Fraternity, that, disregarding the
tenor of the precept given you by our predecessor of holy memory, you
should consecrate the monastery constructed by John, the bearer of
these presents, otherwise than as ancient use demands. For, while
it is ordered among other things in the said precept that you should
dedicate the place itself without a public mass, still, as we have
heard, your chair has been placed there, and the sacred solemnities of
mass are there publicly celebrated. If this is true, we hereby
exhort you that, putting aside all excuse, you cause your
Cf. II. 41.
Further, we desire that with the favour of God there shall always remain a congregation of servants of God in the same monastery, as the aforesaid John has requested, and as is now the case. As to the cup also which he informs me has been taken away by your Fraternity, if it be so, make haste to restore it. These things, then, let your Holiness so study to fulfil that the aforesaid bearer may have no need to resort to us again on the same account.
Epistle XLVIII.
To Urbicus, Abbot.
Gregory to Urbicus, Abbot of Saint Hermes, which is situated in Panormus.
Whosoever, incited by divine inspiration, hastens
to leave the employments of this world and to be converted to
God should so be received with charity, and
refreshed in all ways with kind consolations, that, by the help of
God, he may delight in all ways to persevere
in the state of life which he has chosen. Since, then, Agatho,
the bearer of these presents, desires to be converted Conversion
has its usual sense of embracing monastic life. See also on this
subject, XI. 45, XI. 50.
Epistle XLIX.
To Palladius, Bishop.
Gregory to Palladius, Bishop of Santones in Gaul (Saintes).
Leuparic your presbyter, the bearer of these presents, when he came to us informed us that your Fraternity has built a church in honour of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul, and also of the martyrs Laurentius and Pancratius, and placed there thirteen altars, of which we learn that four have remained not yet dedicated because of your desiring to deposit there relics of the above-named saints. And, seeing that we have reverently supplied you with relics of the Saints Peter and Paul, and also of the martyrs Laurentius and Pancratius, we exhort you to receive them with reverence, and deposit them with the help of the Lord, providing before all things that supplies for the maintenance of those who serve there be not wanting.
Epistle L.
To Queen Brunichild.
Gregory to Brunichild, Queen of the Franks.
The tenor of your letters, which evinces a religious spirit and the earnestness of a pious mind, causes us not only to commend the purpose of your request, but also to grant willingly what you demand. For indeed it would ill become us to refuse what Christian devotion and the desire of an upright heart solicits, especially as we know that you demand, and embrace with your whole heart, what may both protect the faith of believers, and work no less the salvation of souls. Accordingly, greeting your Excellency with befitting honour, we inform you that to Leuparic, the bearer of these presents, through whom we received your communication, and whom you described as a presbyter, we have handed over, according to your Excellency’s request, with the reverence due to them, certain relics of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul. But, that laudable and religious devotion may be more and more conspicuous among you, you must see that these benefits of the saints be deposited with reverence and due honour, and that those who serve in attendance on them be vexed with no burdens or molestations, lest perchance, under the pressure of outward necessity, they be rendered unprofitable and slow in the service of God, and (which God forbid) the benefits of the saints that have been bestowed sustain injury and neglect. Let, then, your Excellency see to their quiet, to the end that, while they are guarded by your bounty from all disquietude, they may render praises to our God with minds undisturbed, and that reward may also accrue to you in the life eternal.
Epistle LI.
To the Brethren going to England
(Angliam) This, with
the eight following letters (51–59), were committed to Augustine,
who is spoken of in several of them as the bearer, when he was sent
back from Rome to rejoin his companions. Bede (H. E. I.
23), and John the deacon (Vit. S. Greg. II. 33), say that the
missionaries—“cum aliquantulum itinerus
confecissent” (Bede)—“post dies aliquot”
(John Diac.)—were deterred by what they had heard of the
difficulties of their undertaking, and sent Augustine to Rome to
request leave to give it up and that Gregory sent him back to them with
letters of admonition and of commendation. No commendatory
letters seem to have been given them when they first set out.
Those now sent are addressed to the bishops of Turni (al.
Turon), Marseilles, Arles, Vienne, Autun, and Aix in Provenee, to
the abbot of Lerins, to Arigius, Patrician of Gaul, to Theodoric and
Theodebert, the two boy-kings of Burgundy and Austrasia, and to queen
Brunechild their grandmother, who at this time ruled Austrasia as
Theodebert’s guardian. See Pedigree of Kings of
Gaul, p. xxx. The letters which come first in order, 51 and
52, being dated 22 July a.d. 596, we may
conclude that the missionaries had been originally despatched in the
spring of the same year. They appear to have got as far as the
southern coast of Provence, since the letters to the bishop of Aix and
the Abbot of Lerins shew that Augustine had already visited them,
though not, apparently, any others to whom letters are now
addressed. The mission was accompanied by Candidus, sent out
as Rector of the patrimony in Gaul (cf. Ep. VII.), who is
also commended in the letter. The patrimony appears to have been
attended to previously in a way not satisfactory to Gregory by the
bishops of Arles (see below, Epp. LIII., LV.). This letter is not
found in the Registrum Epistolorum; but given by Bede (I.
23), and by John the Deacon (Vit. S. Greg. lib. ii. c.
34).
Gregory, servant of the servants of God, to the servants of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Epistle LII.
To Pelagius and Serenus, Bishops.
Gregory to Pelagius of Turni De Turnis;
in Colbert. Turonis. The latter name itself would
seem to denote Tours. But it is not easy to see why a
common letter should have been addressed to the Bishops of Tours and
Marseilles. And, further, would Tours on the Loire be likely to
lie on the route which the missionaries would take to
Britain? See I. 25, note
8.
Although with priests who have the charity that is well pleasing to God religious men need no commendation, yet, since an apt time for writing has offered itself, we have thought well to send a letter to your Fraternity, mentioning that we have sent into your parts, with the help of the Lord, for the benefit of souls, the servant of God Augustine, of whose earnestness we are assured, with other servants of God. Him your Holiness must needs assist with priestly earnestness, and hasten to afford him your succour. We have also enjoined him, that so you may be the more ready to support him, to make you fully acquainted with the matter he has in hand, knowing that, when it is known to you, you will lend yourselves with entire devotion for God’s sake to succour him as the case requires.
Moreover, we commend in all ways to your charity our common son the presbyter Candidus, whom we have sent for the government of the patrimony of our Church. Given on the tenth day of the Kalends of August, Indiction 14.
Epistle LIII.
To Virgilius, Bishop.
Gregory to Virgilius, Bishop of Arelate (Arles), Metropolitan.
Although we are confident that your Fraternity is
intent on good works, and that you come forward of your own accord in
causes well-pleasing to God, we nevertheless
deem it advantageous to address you with fraternal charity, that, being
provoked also by our letters, you may increase the solace which it
becomes you voluntarily to bestow. And accordingly we inform your
Holiness that we have sent Augustine, the servant of God, the bearer of these presents, with other servants of
God, for the winning of souls in the parts
whither he is going, as he will be able himself to inform you face to
face. In these circumstances you must needs aid him with prayer
and assistance, and, where need may require, afford him the support of
your succour, and refresh him, as is fit, with fatherly and priestly
consolation, to the end that, when he shall have obtained the succour
of your Holiness, if he should succeed in winning any gain for
God, as we hope he may, you too may be able to
gain a reward along with him, having devoutly administered to his good
works the abundance of your support. Moreover, as to Candidus the
presbyter, our common son, and the little patrimony of our Church, let
your Fraternity, as being of one mind with us, study to hold both as
commended to you; that so, with the help of your Holiness, something
may thence accrue for the sustenance of the poor. Inasmuch, then,
as your predecessor held this patrimony for many years, and
Epistle LIV.
To Desiderius and Syagrius, Bishops.
Gregory to Desiderius of Vienna (Vienne),
and Syagrius of Augustodunum (Autun), Bishops of Gaul.
A paribus See I. 25, note
8.
Having regard to your sincere charity we are well assured that out of love for Peter, the Prince of the apostles, you will devotedly afford your succour to our men; especially since the nature of the case requires you to give assistance even of your own accord, and the more when you see them labour. Wherefore we inform your Holiness that, the Lord so ordering it, we have despatched Augustine, the servant of God, the bearer of these presents, whose zeal and earnestness are well known to us, with other servants of God, in behalf of souls in those parts; from whose account of things when you have fully learnt what is enjoined on him, let your Fraternity bestow your succour on him in all ways which the case may require, that you may be able, as is becoming and fit, to be helpers of a good work. Let, then, your Fraternity study to shew yourself so devoted in this matter that your action may prove to us the truth of the good report that we have heard of you. We commend to you in all respects our most beloved common son, Candidus the presbyter, to whom we have committed the patrimony of our Church situated in those parts.
Epistle LV.
To Protasius, Bishop.
Gregory to Protasius, Bishop of Aquæ in Gaul (Aix).
How great love of the blessed Peter, Prince of the apostles, distinguishes you is evident, not only from the prerogative of your office, but also from the devotion you bestow on what is to the advantage of his Church. And having learnt that this is the case from the relation of Augustine, servant of God, the bearer of these presents, we rejoice exceedingly for the affection and zeal for truth that is in you; and we give thanks that, though absent in the body, you still shew that you are with us in heart and mind, seeing that you exhibit brotherly charity towards us, as is fit. In order then that actual fact may confirm the good report of you, tell our brother and fellow-bishop Virgilius to hand over to us the payments which his predecessor received for many years and retained in his own hands: for it is the property of the poor. And if perchance, as we do not believe will be the case, he should desire in any way to excuse himself, do you, who know the real truth more exactly, inasmuch as you acted as steward (vicedominus) at that time, explain to him how the matter stands, and urge him not to retain in his hands the property of Saint Peter and of his poor. But, though perhaps our men may not need this, do not refuse your testimony in the case; that so, with regard to the truth as well as to the devotion of your good will, the blessed apostle Peter, for whose love you do this, may respond to you by his intercession both here and in the life to come. We heartily commend to your Holiness the presbyter Candidus, our common son, to whom we have committed the charge of this patrimony.
Epistle LVI.
To Stephen, Abbot In Cod.
Colbert. Stephen is described as “abbati de
monasterio quod est Lirino;” i.e. the famous monastery on the
island of that name (Lerins) now known as
L’ile de St. Honorat. This
was probably Stephen’s monastery.
Gregory to Stephen, &c.
The account given us by Augustine, servant of God, the bearer of these presents, has made us joyful, in that he has told us that your Love is vigilant as you ought to be; and he further affirms that the presbyters and deacons and the whole congregation live in unanimity and concord. And, since the goodness of presidents is the salutary rule of their subjects, we implore Almighty God to enkindle thee always in good works by the grace of His loving-kindness, and to keep those who are committed to thee from all temptation of diabolical deceit, and grant to them to live with thee in charity and in the manner of life that pleases Him.
But, since the enemy of the human race never rests from plotting against our doings, so as to deceive in some part souls that are serving God, therefore, most beloved son, we exhort thee to exercise vigilantly thy anxious care, and so to keep those who are committed to thee by prayer and heedfulness that the prowling wolf may find no opportunity for tearing the flock: to the end that, when thou shalt have rendered to our God unharmed those of whom thou hast undertaken the charge, He may both of His grace repay thee with rewards for thy labour and multiply in thee longings for eternal life.
Epistle LVII.
To Arigius, Patrician The term
Patricius was used to designate governors of provinces under the
Frank kings. Cf. III. 33, “Dynamio patricio
Galliarum,” and Greg. Turon. (IV. 24),
"Guntramnus rex, amoto Agricola patricio, Celsum patriciatus
honore donavit. There were at this time two Burgundian
Patricii, one called the Patricius absolutely,
residing at Arles, the other at Marseilles (Greg.
Turon).
Gregory to Arigius, Patrician of Gaul.
We have learnt from the servant of God, Augustine, the bearer of these presents, how great goodness, how great gentleness, with the charity that is well-pleasing to Christ, is in you resplendent; and we give thanks to Almighty God, who has granted you these gifts of His loving-kindness, through which you may have it in your power to be highly esteemed among men, and—what is truly profitable—glorious in His sight. We therefore pray Almighty God, that He would multiply in you these gifts which He has granted, and keep you with all yours under His protection, and so dispose the doings of your Glory in this world that they may be to your benefit both here, and—what is more to be wished—in the life to come. Saluting, then, your Glory with paternal sweetness, we beg of you that the bearer of these presents, and the servants of God who are with him, may obtain your succour in what is needful, to the end that, while they experience your favour, they may the better fulfil what has been enjoined on them to do.
Furthermore, we commend to you in all respects our son the presbyter Candidus, whom we have sent for the government of the patrimony of our Church which is in your parts; trusting that your Glory will receive a reward in return from our God, if with devout mind you lend your succour to the concerns of the poor.
Epistle LVIII.
To Theodoric and Theodebert Childebert
II. son of Sigebert I. and Brunechild, who had reigned over nearly all
the dominions of the Franks in Gaul (see VI. 5, note 5), died in this
year, a.d. 596, and was succeeded by his
illegitimate son Theodebert II. as king of Austrasia, and by his second
son Theoderic II. as king of Burgundy. These two kings were only
ten and seven years of age respectively when their father died, and
their grandmother Brunechild was appointed guardian of the
former. Hence Gregory, writing now after the death of Childebert,
addresses formal letters in identical terms to the two minors, but
another (Ep. LIX.) to Brunechild. See Pedigree of Kings of
Gaul, p. xxx.
Gregory to Theodoric and Theodebert, brethren,
Kings of the Franks. A paribus See I. 25, note
8.
Since Almighty God has adorned your kingdom with rectitude of faith, and has made it conspicuous among other nations by the purity of its Christian religion, we have conceived great expectations of you, that you will by all means desire that your subjects should be converted to that faith in virtue of which you are their kings and lords. This being so, it has come to our knowledge that the nation of the Angli is desirous, through the mercy of God, of being converted to the Christian faith, but that the priests in their neighbourhood neglect them, and are remiss in kindling their desires by their own exhortations. On this account therefore we have taken thought to send to them the servant of God Augustine, the bearer of these presents, whose zeal and earnestness are well known to us, with other servants of God. And we have also charged them to take with them some priests from the neighbouring parts, with whom they may be able to ascertain the disposition of the Angli, and, as far as God may grant it to them, to aid their wishes by their admonition. Now, that they may have it in their power to shew themselves efficient and capable in this business, we beseech your Excellency, greeting you with paternal charity, that these whom we have sent may be counted worthy to find the grace of your favour. And, since it is a matter of souls, let your power protect and aid them; that Almighty God, who knows that with devout mind and with all your heart you take an interest in His cause, may propitiously direct your causes, and after earthly dominion bring you to heavenly kingdoms.
Furthermore, we request your Excellency to hold as commended to you our most beloved son, Candidus, a presbyter, and the rector of the patrimony of our Church, to the end that the blessed Peter, Prince of the apostles, may answer you by his intercession, while, looking to the reward, you afford your protection in the concerns of his poor.
Epistle LIX.
To Brunichild, Queen of the Franks.
Gregory to Brunichild, &c.
The Christianity of your Excellence has been so
truly known to us of old that we do not in the least doubt of your
goodness, but rather hold it to be in all ways certain that you will
devoutly and zealously concur with us in the cause of faith, and supply
most abundantly the succour of your religious sincerity. Being
for this reason well assured, and greeting you with paternal charity,
we inform you that it has come to our knowledge how that the nation of
the Angli, by God’s permission,
is
Furthermore, commending to your Christianity our beloved son Candidus, presbyter and rector of the patrimony of our Church which is situated in your parts, we beg that he may in all things obtain the favour of your protection.
Epistle LX.
To Eulogius, Bishop.
Gregory to Eulogius, Bishop of Alexandria.
Charity, the mother and guardian of all that is good, which binds together in union the hearts of many, regards not as absent him whom it has present in the mind’s eye. Since then, dearest brother, we are held together by the root of charity, neither will bodily absence nor distance of places have power to assert any claim over us, inasmuch as we who are one are surely not far from each other. Now we wish to have always this common charity with the rest of our brethren. Yet there is something that binds us in a certain peculiar way to the Church of Alexandria, and compels us, as it were by a special law, to be the more prone to love it. For, as it is known to all that the blessed evangelist Mark was sent by Saint Peter the apostle, his master, to Alexandria, so we are bound together in the unity of this master and his disciple, so that I seem to preside over the see of the disciple because of the master, and you over the see of the master because of the disciple.
Moreover to this unity of hearts we are bound also by the merits of your Holiness, since we know that you follow profitably the ordinances of your founder, and feel how you betake yourself with entire devotion to the bosom of your master, whence sprung the preaching of salvation in your parts. And so, when we received the letters of your Holiness, as much as our heart rejoiced in your brotherly visitation, so much is it oppressed with sadness for the untold burdens which you refer to, and we groan with you in brotherly sympathy for your grief. But, since a shaking of various kinds is extending itself everywhere, in the midst of a common need one should grieve less for one’s own, but study rather, by patiently enduring, to overcome what we cannot altogether avoid.
But what we ourselves are suffering from the swords of the Lombards in the daily plundering and mangling and slaying of our citizens, we refuse to tell, lest, while speaking of our own sorrows, we should increase yours from the sympathy which you bestow upon us.
Furthermore, a little time ago we sent to
Sabinianus, who represents our Church in the royal city, a letter from
ourselves, which he should have sent on to your Fraternity See V. 43, which
is probably the letter here referred to, being one sent to the two
patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch, urging them to join in resisting
the assumption of the title of universal Bishop by the patriarch of
Constantinople.
Now may Almighty God, who by the grace of His loving-kindness has conferred on you the disposition and charity that becomes a priest, protect you in His service, and keep you within and without from all adversity, and mercifully grant that the souls of wanderers may be converted to Himself by your preaching.
We have received with the charity that was due to
the bearer of these presents, our common son the deacon Isidore, who
brought to us the benediction
Benedictionem, with reference to the present of sweet wood that
had been sent. Cf. Cf. VII. 40; IX.
78.
Epistle LXI.
To Castorius, Notary On the subject of
this Epistle, cf. above, Ep. XXXIV., with references in note.
Gregory to Castorius, &c.
The magnificent lord Andreas presses me
continually about restoring the use of the pallium in the Church of
Ravenna according to ancient custom. And thou knowest that the
bishop John wrote to me that it had been the custom for the bishops of
the said Church to use the pallium in solemn litanies Cf. V. 11; VI.
34. Spatam, a
word usually signifying a kind of sword. Cf. VI. 24, where this
same spata is referred to.
I swear by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the inseparable Trinity of Divine Power, and by this body of the blessed martyr Apollinaris, that out of favour to no person, and without any advantage to myself intervening, I give my testimony. But this I know, and am personally cognizant of, that, before the times of the late bishop John, the Bishop of Ravenna, in the presence of this or that apocrisiarius of the Apostolic See, on such and such days, had the custom of using the pallium, and I am not aware that he had herein usurped latently, or in the absence of the apocrisiarius.
Epistle LXIII.
To Gennadius, Patrician On the subject of
this letter, see IV. 34, 35.
Gregory to Gennadius, Patrician of Africa.
We doubt not that your Excellency remembers how two years ago we wrote in behalf of Paul our brother and fellow-bishop, asking you to afford him the support of your Dignity in his desire to come to us on account of the trouble he was said to be undergoing from persecution on the part of the Donatists, to the end that, since it had been reported to us that he could get no aid against them there, we might, after ascertaining the truth, give him advice with fraternal sympathy, and treat with him as to what should be done in the way of a wholesome arrangement against the madness of pestiferous presumption. And, so far as our aforesaid brother gave us to understand, he not only failed to get succour from any one, but was prevented by various hindrances from being able to come with safety to the Roman city. Yet, when we had caused your epistle to be read to him, he replied that he is not suffering from the ill-will of certain persons because he repressed the Donatists, but rather says that he is in disfavour with many for his defence of the Catholic faith; and he told me many things besides, which, since this is not a fit time for mentioning them, we have thought best to keep to ourselves.
But with regard to the above-named bishop, whom you assert to be deprived of communion, we greatly wonder how it is that a letter from your Excellency, and not from his primate, has announced this to us.
Epistle LXV.
To Mauricius, Emperor.
Gregory to Mauricius Augustus.
Amidst the cares of warfare and innumerable
anxieties which you sustain in your unwearied zeal for the government
of the Christian republic, it is a great cause of joy to me along with
the whole world that your Piety ever watches over custody of the faith
whereby the empire of our lords is resplendent. Whence I fully
trust that, as you guard the causes of God with the love of a religious
mind, so God guards and aids yours with the
grace of His Majesty. Now after what manner the serenity of your
Piety, out of regard to righteousness and zeal for the purest religion,
has been moved against the most flagitious pravity of the Donatists,
the tenor of the commands which you have sent most clearly shews.
But the most reverend bishops who have come from the African province
assert that these have been so disregarded through ill-advised
connivance that neither is the judgment of God
held in fear there, nor are the imperial commands so far carried into
effect; adding also this: that in the aforesaid province, through
the bribes of the Donatists prevailing, the Catholic faith is publicly
let to sale. But on the other hand the glorious
Gennadius Gennadius was the
Exarch of Africa.
For these reasons I beseech the Christianity of my lords, for the weal of their souls and life of their most pious offspring, to give orders by a strict mandate for the punishment of such as you find to be such as have been described, and to arrest with the hand of rescue the ruin of those who are perishing, and to apply the medicine of correction to insane minds, and cure them of the poisonous bite of error; that so, the darkness of pestiferous pravity having been driven away by the remedy of your provision, and the true faith having shed abroad in those parts the rays of its serenity, heavenly triumph may await you before the eyes of our Redeemer, because whomsoever you defend outwardly from the enemy, them you also set free inwardly from the poison of diabolical fraud; which is a still more glorious thing.
Epistle LXVI.
To Athanasius, Presbyter.
Gregory to Athanasius, Presbyter of Isauria.
As we are afflicted and mourn for those whom the error
of heretical pravity has cut off from the unity of the Church, so we
rejoice with those whom their profession of the catholic faith retains
within her bosom. And, as it is our duty to oppose the impiety of
the former with pastoral solicitude, so it is fitting for us to bestow
favour on the pious professions of the latter, and to declare their
views to be sound. And accordingly, a suspicion of unsoundness in
the faith having arisen against thee, Athanasius, presbyter of the
monastery of Saint Mile, called Tamnacus, which is established in the
province of Lycaonia, thou, in order that the integrity of the
profession of faith might appear, didst elect to have recourse to the
Apostolical See over which we preside, asserting also that, having been
corporally chastised, thou hadst done some things unjustly and
impetuously. And, although things done under compulsion by no
means fall under the censure of the canons, and they are rightly
accounted to be of no weight (since he himself invalidates them who
compels what is unjust to be confessed and done), and though that
confession is rather to be received and embraced which is shewn to
proceed from the spontaneous will, as is known to be the case in that
which thou madest before us;—yet still, to avoid the possibility
of uncertainty, we took the precaution of writing about thee to our
brother and fellow-bishop,
We wish to write also on this matter to our most
beloved brother, the prelate of the city of Constantinople, who has
been ordained in the place of the aforesaid holy John Cyriacus
(a.d. 595) succeeded John the Faster as
patriarch of Constantinople. For the letter written afterwards
written to him with reference to Athanasius, cf. VII. 5.
Epistle II.
To Columbus, Bishop.
Gregory to Columbus, Bishop of Numidia On the subject
of this letter, see IV. 34, 35: also VI. 63.
We received at the hands of the bearer, your deacon, the epistle of your Fraternity, in which you informed us of what had been done among you with regard to the person of the bishop Paul. This has been done so late that he could not now have appeared here in person. For his Excellency also, our son Gennadius the Patrician, sent his chancellor to us with reference to the same case. But when we had caused enquiry to be made whether he was willing to plead against him [i.e. against the bishop Paul] before us, he replied that he had been by no means sent with this intent but had only brought hither certain three persons from his Church who would allege many things against him. While, then, we neither found him prepared to commence an action, nor were moved by the quality of those persons to regard them as fit accusers of a bishop, we could not gainsay or offer hindrance to the often before-mentioned bishop Paul, who petitioned us in the hope of having leave given him to resort to the royal city; but we presently allowed him according to his petition, with two others whom he should take with him, to set forth. If, then, there have been any things that could be reasonably said against him, the proper course would have been for him to come here at once, and for your Fraternity to inform us of all particulars, as you have now done. For, as to your having signified to us that you suffer from the enmities of many on account of our frequently visiting you by our letters, there is no doubt, most reverend brother, that the good suffer from the grudges of the bad, and that those who are intent on divine works are harassed by the oppositions of the perverse. But, in proportion as these bad things are around you, ought you to be more instantly occupied with the care of the government committed to you, and to watch for the custody of the flock of Christ; and in proportion as the contrariety of unrighteous men presses upon you, ought the care of pastoral solicitude to inflame you to be more active, and very certain of the promised reward, to the end that you may be able to offer to the chief Shepherd gain from the work given you to do.
Epistle IV.
To Cyriacus, Bishop.
Gregory to Cyriacus, Bishop of Constantinople.
We have received with becoming charity our common
sons, George the presbyter and Theodore your deacon; and we rejoice
that you have passed from the care of ecclesiastical business to the
government of souls, since, according to the voice of the Truth, He
that is faithful in a little will be faithful also in much
( What follows
about Isaiah and Jeremiah occurs also in the Pastoralis Cura, I.
7.
For indeed there are two precepts of charity; to wit, the love of God and of one’s neighbour. Wherefore Isaias, wishing to profit his neighbours by an active life, desires the office of preaching; but Jeremias, longing to cling assiduously to the love of his Maker by a contemplative life, protests against being sent to preach. What, then, one laudably desired the other laudably shrunk from: the latter lest by speaking he should lose the gains of silent contemplation; the former lest by keeping silence he should feel the loss of diligent work. But this is nicely to be observed in both, that he who refused did not resist finally, and he who wished to be sent saw himself previously purged by a coal from the altar; that so no one who has not been purged should dare to approach sacred ministries, nor any one whom heavenly grace chooses refuse proudly under a show of humility.
Moreover I find you in your epistles seeking with
great longing after serenity of mind, and panting for tranquillity of
thought apart from perturbation. But I know not in what manner
your Fraternity can attain to this. For one who has undertaken
the pilotage of a ship must needs watch all the more as he further
recedes from shore, so as sometimes to foresee from signs the coming
storms; sometimes, when they come, either, if they are small, to ride
over them in a straight course, or, if they swell violently, to avoid
them as they rush on by steering sideways; and often to watch alone
when all who are without charge of the ship are at rest. How,
moreover, having undertaken the burden of pastoral charge, can you have
serenity of thought, seeing that it is written, Behold giants groan
under the waters (
I also, who, unworthy as I am, have come to a
place of rule, had sometimes determined to seek some place of
retirement: but, seeing the Divine counsels to be opposed to me,
I submitted the neck of my heart to my Maker’s yoke; especially
reflecting on this, that no hidden places whatever can save the soul
without the grace of God; and this we observe
sometimes, when even saints go astray. For Lot was righteous in
the depraved city itself, and sinned on the mountain
( The
following fanciful interpretation of Ezekiel’s direction to
priests is found also, almost word for word, in the Pastoralis
Cura, II. 7. See note there.
Furthermore, we have received in full faith your letters addressed to us, and give thanks to Almighty God, who, by the mutual confession of the faithful, guards the coat that is without seam woven from the top throughout, that is to say His Church, in the unity of grace, from all rent of error; and against the deluge (so to speak) of so many sins of the perishing world constructs an ark of many planks in which the elect of Almighty God may be preserved unto life. For, when we in our turn send the confession of our faith to you, and you shew your charity towards us, what are we doing in holy Church but smearing the ark with pitch; lest any wave of error enter, and kill all the spiritual as being men, and the carnal as being beasts.
But, when you have wisely professed a right faith,
it remains doubtless that you should keep the more warily the peace of
hearts, because of what the Truth says, Have salt in yourselves, and
have peace one with another (
Furthermore, while you have truly and accurately
professed the right faith, we find that among those whom you have held
to be condemned by the most holy general synods you have condemned a
certain Eudoxius; whose name we have not found mentioned in the Latin
language either in synods or in the books of the bishops of blessed
memory, Epiphanius, Augustin, or Philaster, whom we know to have been
the chief disputants against heretics It is a sign of
Gregory’s scanty knowledge of the history of controversies that
so far he seems never to have heard of so noted an Arian leader as
Eudoxius, whose followers, under the name of Eudoxians, had been
specifically condemned in the 1st Canon of the first general Council of
Constantinople. But it appears from a subsequent letter (VII.
34), that there was no copy at Rome of the canons of that Council,
which had not in fact been accepted there, probably because of the 3rd
Canon, which assigned a primacy of honour after Rome to the See of
Constantinople as being new Rome. When he wrote this subsequent
letter, he had become aware that the Eudoxians had been so condemned,
but still had no idea who Eudoxius had been. The fact was that he
was not well versed in past ecclesiastical history and, being totally
ignorant of Greek, could only consult such Latin writings as were
within his reach; and in these he had failed to find Eudoxius
mentioned. He applied, however, to the patriarchs of Alexandria
and Antioch for further information on the subject (see VII. 34, and
VIII. 30), and was at length satisfied that Eudoxius had been a
veritable heretic, having been condemned by many Greek Fathers of
repute, and concluded that he was “manifestly slain, against whom
our heroes have cast so many darts” (VIII. 30).
Epistle V.
To Cyriacus, Bishop.
Gregory to Cyriacus, Bishop of Constantinople.
When in time past I represented the Apostolic See in the royal city, I became acquainted with the good qualities of your Holiness. And I greatly rejoice that the care of souls has been committed to you. And though unworthy, I beseech Almighty God with all the prayers in my power that He would even increase His grace in you, and cause you to gather gain of souls for the eternal country. But, whereas you say that you are weak for this work that has been put upon you, we know that the first virtue is acknowledgment of infirmity; and from this we gather that you can fulfil well the ministry you have undertaken, that we see how, out of humility, you acknowledge your own infirmity. For we are all infirm; but he is more infirm who has not strength to consider his infirmity. But you, most blessed brethren, are for this reason strong, that, distrusting your own strength, you trust in the power of Almighty God.
I cannot, however, express by the words of a letter how much my heart is bound to your Charity. But I pray that Almighty God may by the gift of His grace multiply the same charity that is between us, and may take away all occasion of offence, lest the holy Church, united by the profession of the true faith, and compacted by conjunction of the hearts of the faithful, should suffer any damage from priests disputing with each other, which God forbid. I at any rate, in all that I speak, in all that I say, against the proud conduct of certain persons, still, through the bounty of Almighty God, never relinquish custody of inward charity; but so execute outwardly what belongs to justice as by no means to disregard inwardly what belongs to love and kindness. And do you also ever return my love, and guard what belongs to peace and kindness; that, remaining of one mind, so as to allow no dissension to come in between us, we may be better able from the very unity of our hearts to obtain what we seek from the Lord.
Furthermore, I commend to your Holiness John, presbyter of Chalcedon, and Athanasius of Isauria, that no one may set you against them by underhand misrepresentations; for I have thoroughly examined their faith, and have found them sound in their confessions, which have also been given in writing.
Now may the Holy Trinity protect you with His hand, and render you always vigilant and careful in the custody of souls, to the end that in the eternal retribution you may be counted worthy to be crowned, not only for your own work, but also for the amelioration of your subjects.
Epistle VI.
To Mauricius Augustus.
Gregory to Mauricius Augustus.
Almighty God, who has
made your Piety to be the guardian of ecclesiastical peace, preserves
you by the same faith which, through unity among priests, you preserve;
and when you submit your heart humbly to the yoke of heavenly
loving-kindness, it is brought to pass by heavenly grace that you tread
your enemies under the foot of valour. For it cannot be of small
advantage that, when John of holy memory had departed this life, your
Piety long hesitated, and somewhat deferred the time, while seeking
counsel in the fear of Almighty God, in order,
to wit, that the cause of God might be
ordered, as it should be, with great fear What is said
here shews that the appointment of the Patriarchs of Constantinople
rested in fact entirely with the Emperor.
The venerable men, George the presbyter and Theodore the deacon, in consideration of the command of my lords and the imminence of the winter season, I have not allowed to be delayed in this city.
Epistle VII.
To Peter, Domitian, and Elpidius.
Gregory to Peter, Domitian, and Elpidius,
Bishops Who these
bishops were, who had assisted at the ordination of Cyriacus and sent a
report of it to Gregory, does not appear. In the objection taken
by the latter to the language of laudation with which the new patriarch
had been hailed at Constantinople we may perhaps detect something of
his habitual jealousy of the assumptions of the Constantinopolitan
See. Of Cyriacus himself he appears to have had a high opinion
and to have welcomed his accession, hoping at first that he would
renounce the offensive title of œcumenical bishop which had been
assumed by John Jejunatur. In this, however, he was disappointed,
and afterwards inveighed against the new patriarch for proud
presumption no less than against the old one.
I rejoice exceedingly that you welcomed with great
joy the ordination of the most holy Cyriacus, my brother and
fellow-priest. And since we have learnt from the preaching of
Paul the apostle that If one member rejoice, all the members rejoice
with it ( cxviii. 24. lv. 5. cxviii. 22.
But why should I find fault with these things, knowing as I do how joy carries away the mind? For your charity engendered in you great gladness, which gladness of heart the tongue applauding followed. This being so, the praise which charity found to hand cannot now be called a fault. But to me concerning my most holy brother there should have been briefly said what I might accept with satisfaction, seeing that I knew him to be one who has long given to me especially this proof of his greatness; that, having been occupied in so many affairs of ecclesiastical administration, he has kept a tranquil heart in the midst of turbulent throngs, and always restrained himself with a gentle bearing. And this indeed is no small commendation of a great and unshaken mind, not to have been perturbed among the perturbations of business.
Epistle XI.
To Rufinus, Bishop of Ephesus.
Gregory to Rufinus, &c.
The charity of your acts of friendship in the past has moved us to visit your Fraternity with the present letter. For we have been refreshed with great joy by learning from reports given us of your health that all is well with you. But, while this is so, we implore Almighty God, that as in the present life, which is as it were a shadow of the future one, He has granted you to rejoice in the transitory welfare of your body, so in that heavenly country wherein is true life He may cause us to give thanks and rejoice with a common exultation for the perfected salvation of your soul. Now the bearer of this, desiring to be commended to you by a letter from us, having been asked by us whether he had learnt letters as becomes a clerk, replied that he was ignorant of them. What further commendation, then, with regard to him I should give to your Fraternity I know not; except that you should be solicitous about his soul, and watch over him with pastoral zeal, so that, as he cannot read, your tongue may be a book to him, and that in the goodness of your preaching and work he may see what to follow. For the living voice usually draws the heart more closely than perfunctory reading. But, while, as his master, you supply him inwardly with this spiritual teaching, let not outward care for him also be wanting, that by its aid he come to long for spiritual things, and lest, if such aid is slighted, you should no longer have one to preach to.
Epistle XII.
To Respecta, Abbess.
Gregory to Respecta, Abbess of Massilia (Marseilles) in Gaul.
The demand of a pious wish ought to be accomplished by a
consequent result, that so the benefit demanded may be validly
attained, and sincerity of devotion may laudably shine forth.
Accordingly to the monastery consecrated to the honour of Saint Cassian
wherein you are selected to preside—in accordance with the
petition of our children Dynamius and Aureliana, who are shewn, in
their religious devotion, to have united it to the house in their
possession by connecting the buildings—we have seen fit to allow
these privileges:—We appoint that on the death of the abbess of
the aforesaid monastery, not a stranger, but one whom the congregation
may choose for itself from among its own members, shall be ordained;
whom (provided however that she be judged worthy of this ministry) the
bishops of the same place shall ordain. Further, with regard to
the property and management of the same monastery, we decree that
neither bishop nor any ecclesiastic shall have any power; but appoint
that these things shall in all respects pertain to the charge of thy
Solicitude, or of her who may be abbess in the same place after
thee. If on the day of the Saint’s anniversary, or of the
dedication,
Furthermore, with regard to the life and deeds of the handmaidens of God, or of the abbess who may be constituted in the above-written monastery, we enjoin on the bishop, in the fear of God, to devote careful attention to them; so that, if any of those who dwell there, her fault demanding it, ought to be subjected to punishment, he may himself visit the offence according to the vigour of the sacred canons. These things, then, being by us ordained and granted, do thou, in the ordering of thy congregation, study to shew thyself so earnestly attentive in all respects that the malice of the malignant foe may find nothing there that can be contaminated. All these things, therefore, embraced in this paper of injunctions, we ordain to be observed, under Christ’s protection, in all respects and by all persons for ever in thy monastery, to the end that the benefits of the privileges allowed may always continue firm and inviolate. The month of November, Indict. 15.
Epistle XIII.
To Fortunatus, Bishop.
Gregory to Fortunatus, Bishop of Fanum Fanum Fortunæ
in Picenum (Fano).
As it is reprehensible and deserving of punishment for any one to sell consecrated vessels except in cases sanctioned by law and the sacred canons, so it is not a matter for reproach or penalty if they should be disposed of with a compassionate purpose for the redemption of captives. Since, then, we find from the information given us by your Fraternity that you have borrowed money for the redemption of captives, and have not the means of repaying it, and on this account desire, with our authority, to dispose of some consecrated vessels,—in this case, seeing that the decrees of both the laws and the canons approve, we have thought fit to lend our approval, and grant you leave to dispose of the consecrated vessels. But, lest their sale should possibly lead to any ill-feeling against yourself, they ought to be disposed of, up to the amount of the debt, in the presence of John our defensor, and their price should be paid to the creditors, to the end that, the business being completed with observance of this kind, neither may the creditors feel loss from having lent the money, nor your Fraternity sustain ill-will now or at any future time.
Epistle XV.
To George, Presbyter.
Gregory to George, Presbyter, and to Theodore, deacon, of the Church of Constantinople.
Mindful of your goodness and charity, I greatly blame myself, that I gave you leave to return so soon: but, since I saw you pressing me importunately once and again for leave to go, I considered that it might be a serious matter for your Love to tarry with us longer. But, after I had learnt that you had lingered so long on your journey owing to the winter season, I confess that I was sorry that you had been sent away so soon. For, if your Love was unable to accomplish your intended journey, it had been better that you had lingered with me than away from me.
Moreover, after your departure I learnt from
information given me by my most beloved sons the deacons that your Love
had said that our Almighty Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ, when He descended into hell, saved all who there
acknowledged Him as God, and delivered them
from the pains due to them. With regard to this subject I desire
that your Charity should think very differently. For, when He
descended into hell, He delivered through His grace those only who both
believed that He should come and observed His precepts in their
lives. For it is evident that after the incarnation of the
Lord no one can be saved, even of those who
hold His faith, who have not the life of faith; since it is written,
They acknowledge that they know God, but in
deeds they deny Him (
Considering, therefore, all these things, hold ye
nothing but what the true faith teaches through the Catholic Church:
namely, that the Lord in descending into hell
rescued from infernal durance those only whom while living in the flesh
He preserved through His grace in faith and good conduct. For in
that which He says in the Gospel, When I shall be lifted up from the
earth, I will draw all to myself (
Epistle XVII.
To Sabinianus, Bishop.
Gregory to Sabinianus, Bishop of Jadera See VI. 27, note
6.
If thou hadst been at pains to weigh with careful consideration the rule of ecclesiastical administration and the order of ancient custom, neither would any fault of unlawful presumption have crept in upon thee, nor would others have incurred danger by occasion of thy sin. Now there is no doubt that thou wast aware how that, certain things having come to our ears about Maximus which were no slight bar to his advancement to the priesthood, we had not given our assent to it, and that it was our will that he should not attain to what he strove after till there had been adequate satisfaction concerning the things that were said. But, when thou oughtest by all means to have observed this, it came rather to pass that he, snatching at the episcopate with the greediness of a blind mind, inclined thee unwarily to favour him in spite of our prohibition. But, lest even then the things that had been reported to us should remain unexamined, he was summoned to come hither by letters from us. And, when he was so perversely inclined as to defer doing so, we took care to admonish him in repeated letters, under pain of interdiction from communion, to make haste to come to us for his purification, putting aside all excuses: but he chose rather to submit to excommunication than to evince obedience. Whence the result is (awful to be said), that the pravity of his perverse disposition involves others in his own perdition. Now however, inasmuch as we have learnt that thou dissentest from his wickedness, we exhort thee by the present writing (that so it may profit thy soul to have severed thyself, even though late, from him) that thou henceforth neither communicate with him nor make mention of his name in the sacred solemnities of mass; and also that thou defer not coming to us without delay, yea and bring others with thee too, such as thou canst, whether bishops or other religious persons, so that (the cause being thoroughly examined), both your absolution, should the case require it, may fittingly and decently ensue, and that those who have fallen into the sin of the like temerity may be recalled to the way of salvation, with the help of the blessed Peter, Prince of the apostles, by an arrangement well-pleasing to Christ. Moreover, let any bishop or religious person that may come to us know that he will sustain no prejudice or injustice, but that all will be arranged so as to please our Redeemer after full ascertainment of the truth; to the end that even from our way of ordering the matter, with the Lord’s approval, it may appear to all that we are not moved by private grudge against any man, but by zeal for God and for the adjustment of ecclesiastical order.
Epistle XIX.
To Marinianus, Archbishop.
Gregory to Marinianus, Archbishop of
Ravenna Concerning the
election of Marinianus, see V. 48.
Your Fraternity has been long aware after what
manner the Church of Ariminum has been hitherto deprived of pastoral
government by reason of the known bodily affliction of the priest who
was ordained by us Viz.
Castorius. See II. 41. Cf. XI. 47 as to
the supersession of a bishop incapacitated by illness, except at his
own written request, being uncanonical. See Ep. XX., which
follows.
Epistle XX.
To the Clergy and People Ariminum See preceding
Epistle.
Gregory to the Clergy, &c.
Our pastoral charge constrains us to succour with
anxious consideration any Churches that are deprived of the government
of a priest. Accordingly, inasmuch as your Church has long been
deprived of pastoral rule from the malady, as you know, of its own
priest, we, moved by your entreaties, have not failed to admonish the
said bishop, that, if he should feel himself recovered from that
malady, he should resume the ministry of the priesthood undertaken by
him. And he, having been again and again warned by us, has now
under the pressure of the same malady intimated by a supplication
addressed to us in writing that by reason of this malady he can by no
means rise to the government of the said Church or to the office
undertaken by him. We therefore, compelled by the hopeless
condition of this same person, have held it necessary to take thought
for the setting in order of your Church. We exhort, then, that
all of you, with one consent, without noise or disturbance, choose with
the help of the Lord such a priest to preside
over you as may not be disapproved by the venerable canons, and also be
found worthy of so great a ministry. And let him, when required,
come to us to be ordained, with the solemnity of a decree attested by
the subscriptions of all and followed up by the written approval of the
visitor Viz. a bishop
Sebastian, who had been commissioned, as was usual in such cases, to
visit the church of Ariminum during the incapacity of its proper
bishop. The Epistle which follows this (Ep. XXI., which, as not
throwing further light on the proceedings, has not been translated) is
addressed to him, directing him to see to the due election, &c., of
a successor to Castorius.
We desire also that him whom your unanimity may
have chosen you take without delay to our brother and fellow-bishop
Marinianus at Ravenna As Metropolitan.
See preceding Epistle.
Epistle XXIII.
To Fortunatus and Anthemius Fortunatis was bishop
of Naples, and Anthemius a subdeacon, and Defensor of
Campania.
Gregory to Fortunatus, bishop, and Anthemius, guardian (defensori).
Catellus, the bearer of these presents, has
informed us that his sister, who had been betrothed to one Stephen,
has, through divine mercy moving her, been converted Conversam
fuisse; the usual phrase for taking to monastic life.
Epistle XXV.
To Gregoria.
Gregory to Gregoria, Lady of the Bed-chamber (cubiculariæ) to Augusta.
I have received the longed for letters of your
Sweetness, in which you have been at pains all through to accuse
yourself of a multitude of sins: but I know that you fervently
love the Almighty Lord, and I trust in His
mercy that the sentence which was pronounced with regard to a certain
holy woman proceeds from the mouth of the Truth with regard to
you: Her sins, which are many, are forgiven her, for she loved
much ( It will be observed
that Gregory identifies the woman who had been a sinner in the city
with the sister of Martha, and also with the Magdalene.
But as to what thy Sweetness has added in thy letters,
namely that thou wilt continue to be urgent with me till I write that
it has been revealed to me that thy sins are forgiven, thou hast
demanded a difficult, nay even an unprofitable thing; difficult indeed,
because I am unworthy of having a revelation made to me; but
unprofitable, because thou oughtest not to become secure about thy
sins, except when in the last day of thy life thou shalt be able no
longer to bewail them. But, until that day comes, thou oughtest,
ever suspicious and ever fearful, to be afraid of faults, and wash them
with daily tears. Assuredly the apostle Paul had already ascended
into the third heaven, had also been caught up into Paradise, and heard
secret words which it was not lawful for a man to speak (
Epistle XXVI.
To Theoctista, Patrician This patrician lady
was sister of the Emperor Mauricius (see I. 5), and appears from what
is said in this letter to have been governess of the imperial children,
and in close attendance on the Empress Constantina. The letter is
in many respects interesting and characteristic. In it may be
noted Gregory’s way of retaining influence over devout ladies in
high circles, and through them hoping to influence others; his
favourite method of allegorizing the Old Testament Scriptures; his
tendency to regard remarkable incidents as miraculous; and his allusion
to the very large number of females at that time leading a monastic
life in Rome. Cf. XI. 45, addressed to the same lady.
Gregory to Theoctista, &c.
That your Excellency, though placed in so
The whole passage
which follows about two kinds of compunction, with the allegorical
interpretation of the story of Achsah, is found, word for word, in the
Dialogues Lib. III. cap. 34.
For there are two kinds of compunction, as you
know: one that is afraid of eternal pains, the other that sighs
for heavenly rewards; since the soul that is athirst for God is first moved to compunction by fear, and afterwards
by love. For in the first place it is affected to tears because,
while recollecting its evil doings, it fears to suffer for them eternal
punishments. But, when fear has died away in the anxiety of a
long sorrow, a certain security has birth from a sense of pardon; and
the mind is enflamed with love of heavenly joys. And one who
previously wept for fear of punishment begins afterwards to weep most
bitterly for being kept back from the kingdom. For the soul
contemplates what are those choirs of angels, what is the very society
of blessed spirits, what the vision of the inward brightness of
God; and laments more for the lack of unending
good than it wept before when it feared eternal evil; and thus it comes
to pass that the compunction of fear, when perfected, draws the mind to
the compunction of love. All this is well described in the sacred
and true history, understood figuratively, which says, Axa the
daughter of Caleph sighed sitting on an ass. And her father said
to her, What wouldest thou? Who answered, Give me a blessing,
Thou hast given me a South and dry land; give me also a watered
land. And her father gave her the upper springs, and the nether
springs ( In
Further, I beg you to take especial care to instruct in
good morals the little lords whom you are bringing up, and to admonish
the glorious eunuchs who are appointed to attend them that they should
speak to them such things as may move their minds to mutual
Furthermore, my beloved son, Sabinianus the deacon, has brought thirty pounds of gold, sent by your Excellency to be given for the redemption of captives and for distribution to the poor; with regard to which I rejoice, but tremble for myself, seeing that I shall have to render an account before the tremendous Judge, not only of the substance of Saint Peter, Prince of the apostles, but also of your possessions. But to you may Almighty God return heavenly things for earthly, and eternal for temporal. I have now to inform you that from the city of Crotona, which, lying on the Adriatic Sea in the land of Italy, was taken last year by the Lombards, many noble men and many noble women were led away captive, and children were parted from their parents, parents from their children, husbands from their wives, and wives from their husbands; of whom some have already been redeemed. But, because of the heavy prices put upon them, many have remained so far in the hands of those most abominable Lombards. But I sent at once for their redemption a moiety of the money sent by you. Out of the other moiety I have arranged for the purchase of bed-clothes for the handmaidens of God whom you in Greek language call monastriæ; seeing that they suffer from grievous bareness in their beds during the very severe cold of this winter; there being many of them in this city. For, according to the official list of them, they are found to be three thousand in number. They do indeed receive fourscore pounds a year from the possessions of Saint Peter, Prince of the apostles. But what is this for so great a multitude, especially in this city, where everything is so dear? Their life, moreover, is such, and strict to such a degree in tears and abstinence, that we believe that, but for them, not one of us could have subsisted for so many years in this place among the swords of the Lombards.
Furthermore, I send you, as a blessing from Saint
Peter the apostle, a key from his most sacred body; with respect to
which key the miracle has been wrought which I now relate. A
certain Lombard, having found it on his entrance into a city in the
parts beyond the Po, and, paying no regard to it as Saint Peter’s
key, but wishing to make something of it for himself in that he saw it
to be of gold, took out a knife to cut it. But presently seized
by a spirit, he plunged the knife wherewith he had thought to cut it
into his own throat, and in the same hour fell down dead. And
when Autharith, king of the Lombards See I. 17, note
4.
Epistle XXVII.
To Anastasius, Bishop.
Gregory to Anastasius, Bishop of Antioch.
I have received through the hands of our common
son the deacon Sabinianus the longed for letter of your most sweet
Holiness, in which the words have flowed not from your tongue but from
your soul. And it is not surprising that one speaks well who
lives perfectly. And, since you have learnt, through the Spirit
teaching you in the school of the heart, the precepts of life—to
despise all earthly things and to speed to the heavenly
country,—in proportion as you have advanced in good you think
what is good of others. But, when I heard many things said in the
letters of your Blessedness in praise of me, I understood your
intention; how that you wished to describe not what I am, but what I
ought to be. But as to your saying that I ought to remember my
manner of life, and on no account give place to the malignant spirit
who seeks to sift souls, I indeed recollect myself to have been always
of bad manner of life, and hasten to overcome and put an end to this my
manner of life, if I can. If however, as you believe, I have had
anything good in me, I trust in the help of Almighty God that I have not forgotten it. But your Holiness,
as I see, by the words of sweetness at the beginning and
And indeed on the receipt of the synodical epistle
of our brother and fellow-bishop Cyriacus it was not worth my while to
make a difficulty on account of the profane title at the risk of
disturbing the unity of holy Church: but nevertheless I took care
to admonish him with respect to this same superstitious and proud
title, saying that he could not have peace with us unless he corrected
the elation of the aforesaid expression, which the first apostate
invented. You, however, ought not to say that this is a matter of
no consequence, since, if we bear it with equanimity, we are corrupting
the faith of the Universal Church; for you know how many not only
heretics but heresiarchs have issued from the Constantinopolitan
Church. And, not to speak of the injury done to your dignity, if
one bishop is called Universal, the Universal Church comes to ruin, if
the one who is universal falls. But far, far be this levity from
my ears. Yet I trust in Almighty God
that what He has promised He will soon fulfil; Whosoever exalteth
himself shall be humbled (
So much, in the midst of many occupations. I have briefly replied to what you have said in your letters: for what I ought not just now to express in writing remains imprinted on my mind. I beg your Blessedness always to recall me to your memory in your holy prayers, that so your intercessions may rescue me from temporal and eternal ills. Pray moreover zealously and fervently for the most serene lord the Emperor; for his life is very necessary for the world. I refrain from saying more, for I doubt not that you know.
Epistle XXVIII.
To Theodore, Physician.
Gregory to Theodore, Physician at Constantinople.
My most beloved son the deacon Sabinianus Gregory’s
apocrisiarius at Constantinople, and eventually his successor in
the See of Rome. See III. 53.
We send you as the benediction of Saint Peter, Prince of the apostles, whom you greatly love, a key from his most sacred body, in which is enclosed iron from his chains, that what bound his neck for martyrdom, may loose yours from all sins.
Epistle XXX.
To Narses, the Religious (Narsæ
Relegioso) On the designation
Religiosus, cf. I. 61, note 7. The Narses here addressed
as “Religiosus” was probably the same as the “Narses
Comes” of I. 6, and VI. 14, and the “Narses
Patricius” of IV. 32 (see note to I. 6). For it is evident
from the letters that he was of high rank at Constantinople, and
greetings are sent through him to the same persons as in the other
letters. He had now, we may suppose, devoted himself to the
service of the Church in some capacity.
Gregory to Narses, &c.
When I was sending Romanus the guardian
(defensorem) to the royal city, he sought long your letters, but
they could not be found:
Further, your most sweet Charity has written to me that I should write something in the way of admonition to the monasteries which, through your prayers and influence, have been instituted by our son the lord Paul. But, if they are vessels of God, I know that they have through the grace of compunction a fountain of wisdom within, and ought not to take in the little drops of my dryness. Further, your perfect wisdom recollects that in Paradise there was no rain, but a fountain ascended from the midst of Paradise to water the face of the ground. Those souls, then, that through the grace of compunction have a fountain in themselves have no need of rain from another’s tongue.
Further, you inform me in your letter of the
passing away of the lady Esychia Cf. I. 6, where
greetings were sent to this lady, there also designated as
Domna.
Further, I beg you to greet in my behalf the lord
Alexander and the lord Theodorus. But with respect to your saying
in your letter that I ought to write to my most excellent daughter the
lady Gurdia, and her most holy daughter the lady Theoctista The Emperor
Maurice is said to have had a sister called Gordia, who may have been
the lady here referred to. Her daughter Theoctista may be
concluded from the epithet “sanctissima” to have been
piously disposed; and it may have been a fear lest her piety should
suffer through the temptations of fashionable life that had led Narses,
who was himself religious, to suggest to Gregory that he should write
letters of admonition to the husbands of these ladies, as well as to
themselves. Gregory’s reluctance to do so may have arisen
from a fear of giving offence to such distinguished people from the
purport of what he could only write in Latin being misunderstood.
Elsewhere apparent are his caution and delicacy in dealing with great
people.
Epistle XXXI.
To Cyriacus, Bishop.
Gregory to Cyriacus, Bishop of Constantinople.
We have received the letters of your Blessedness,
which speak to us in words not of the tongue but of the soul. For
they open to me your mind, which, however, was not closed to me, since
of myself I retain experience of the same sweetness. Wherefore I
return thanks continually to Almighty God,
since, if charity the mother of virtues abides in your heart towards
us, you will never lose the branches of good works, seeing that you
retain the very root of goodness. You ought, then, to shew the
beauty of this charity to me and to all your brethren by this good work
in the first place,—your hastening to discard that word of pride
whereby grave offence is engendered in the Churches, thus fulfilling in
all ways what is written, Endeavouring to keep the unity of the
Spirit in the bond of peace (
Epistle XXXII.
To Anastasius, Presbyter This epistle
appears to have been in reply to one from a presbyter. Anastasius
(al. Athanasius), of Jerusalem announcing his promotion to the
abbacy of a monastery there. There had been, it seems, a standing
feud between the abbots of this monastery and the bishops of Jerusalem,
the continuance of which Gregory gracefully deprecates in the course of
his letter.
Gregory to Anastasius, &c.
That a good man out of the good treasure of his heart
bringeth forth good things (
But, since there have been wont to be quarrels
between the father of this same monastery and the pastor of the Church
of Jerusalem, I believe that Almighty God has
willed that thy Love and my most holy brother and fellow-priest Amos
should be at the same time at Jerusalem for this end, that the quarrels
which I have spoken of should be put an end to. Shew, then, now
how much you loved before. For I know that both of you are
abstinent, both learned, both humble; whence the glory of our Saviour
must needs be praised, according to the language of the Psalm, in
timbrel and chorus (
The blessing which you sent, first by Exhilaratus
the Secundicerius See III. 56, note
3.
Epistle XXXIII.
To Mauricius Augustus.
Gregory to Mauricius Augustus.
The provident piety of my lords, lest perchance
any scandal might be engendered in the unity of Holy Church by the
dissension of priests, has once and again deigned to admonish me to
receive kindly the representatives of my brother and fellow-priest
Cyriacus, and to give them liberty to return soon. And although,
most pious lord, all your injunctions are suitable and provident, yet I
find that by such an admonition I am reproved as being in your judgment
indiscreet. But, even though my mind has been wounded in no
slight degree by a proud and profane title, could I possibly be guilty
of so great indiscretion as not to know what I owed to the unity of the
faith and to ecclesiastical concord, and to refuse to receive the
representatives and the synodical letter of my brother on account of
bitterness from whatever cause intervening? Far be this from
me. Such wisdom had been unwisdom. For what is due from us
for conserving unity of faith is one thing; what is due for restraining
elation is another. Times therefore were to be distinguished,
lest the newness of my aforesaid brother might in any point be
disturbed So
literally;—“Ne prædicti fratri mei ex quolibet
articulo novitas turbaretur.” The meaning seems to be, Lest
Cyriacus should be troubled immediately on his accession. He was
to be remonstrated with in due time; but rejection at once of his
synodical letter and of his emissaries would have been premature.
I have however taken care to admonish earnestly
the same my brother and fellow-bishop that, if he desires to have peace
and concord with all, he must refrain from the appellation of a foolish
title. As to this, the piety of my lords has charged me in their
orders, saying that offence ought not to be engendered among us for the
appellation of a frivolous name. But I beseech your imperial
Piety to consider that some frivolous things are very harmless, and
others exceedingly harmful. Is it not the case that, when
Antichrist comes and calls himself God, it
will be very frivolous, and yet exceedingly pernicious? If we
regard the quantity of the language used, there are but a few
syllables; but if the weight of the wrong, there is universal
disaster. Now I confidently say that whosoever calls himself, or
desires to be called, Universal Priest, is in his elation the precursor
of Antichrist, because he proudly puts himself above all others.
Nor is it by dissimilar pride that he is led into error; for, as that
perverse one wishes to appear as above all men, so whosoever this one
is who covets being called sole priest, he extols himself above all
other priests. But, since the Truth says, Every one that
exalteth himself shall be humbled (
Epistle XXXIV.
To Eulogius, Bishop.
Gregory to Eulogius, Bishop of Alexandria, and
Anastasius, Bishop of Antioch As to the
first subject of this epistle, with references to others on the same
subject, see Prolegom., p. xxii.
The charity wherewith I am greatly bound to you
allows me by no means to keep silence, that your Holiness may know all
that is going on among us, and, deceived by no false rumours, may keep
more perfectly the way of your justice and rectitude, as you have
perfectly begun to do. Now the representatives
(responsales) of our brother and fellow-bishop Cyriacus came to
me, bringing me his synodical epistle. And indeed between us and
him there is, as your Blessedness knows, serious difference on account
of the appellation of a profane name; but I thought that his
representatives sent in the cause of the faith ought to be received,
lest the sin of elation which has arisen in the Constantinopolitan
Church almost against all priests, might cause a shaking of the faith
and a breach in ecclesiastical unity. I also caused the same
representatives, inasmuch as they very humbly requested it, to
celebrate with me the solemnities of mass, because, as I have taken
care to intimate to the most serene lord the Emperor, it was right that
the representatives of our brother and fellow priest Cyriacus should
communicate with me, since by God’s help
I have not fallen into the error of elation. But my deacon ought
not to celebrate the solemnities of mass with our aforesaid-brother
Cyriacus, since, through a profane title, he has either committed or
accedes to the sin of pride; lest if he (my deacon) proceeds Procedit,
the usual term for proceeding to the Holy Table for celebration.
See III. 57, note 5.
Furthermore, our said brother in his synodical
letters has by the grace of God expressed
himself in all respects as a Catholic. But he has condemned a
certain Eudoxius, whom we find neither condemned in synods, nor
repudiated by his predecessors in their synodical letters Cf. VII. 4.
Furthermore three years ago, with reference to the
case of the monks of Isauria, who were accused as being
heretics See III. 53, note
9. Cf. VI. 14, where
the same doctrinal questions are similarly discussed in the same
connexion.
But that the devil enters into the heart of man
cannot be denied, if the Gospel is believed. For it is there
written, And after the sop Satan entered into him
(
I received the letters of your Holiness on the arrival here of our common son the deacon Sabinianus; but, as their bearer is already prepared for departure and cannot be detained, I will reply when the deacon, my responsalis, comes.
Epistle XXXV.
To Dominicus, Bishop.
Gregory to Dominicus, Bishop of Carthage.
Though we believe that thy Fraternity gives attention
with pastoral vigilance to the care of monasteries, yet we think it
necessary to inform you of what we have learnt about a monastery in the
African province. Now the abbot Cumquodeus, the bearer of these
presents, complaints that, if at any time he wishes to restrain under
regular discipline the monks over whom he presides, they at once leave
the monastery, and are allowed to wander wherever they will.
Seeing, then, that this is both altogether pernicious to themselves and
also sets an example of perdition to others, we exhort your Fraternity
that, if it
Epistle XXXVIII.
To Donus, Bishop.
Gregory to Donus, Bishop of Messana (Messene).
The ordinances both of the sacred canons and of the laws allow the utensils of the Church to be sold for the redemption of captives. And so, seeing that Faustinus, the bearer of these presents, is proved to have contracted a debt of three hundred and thirty solidi for the purpose of redeeming his daughters from the yoke of captivity, and that, thirty thereof having been repaid, it is certain that he has not sufficient means for the repayment of the remaining sum, we exhort thy Fraternity by this communication that thou by all means give him fifteen pounds, taking his receipt for the same, out of the silver in thy hands belonging to the Meriensian Church, of which he is known to be a soldier; so that, it being sold, and the debt paid, he may be freed from the bond of his obligation. But of this also your Fraternity should be careful, that in case of the aforesaid Church having so much current coin, he should receive from it the amount above-written; but otherwise you must needs supply him for the purpose in view with the sum we have stated from the consecrated vessels. For, as it is a very serious thing to sell idly ecclesiastical utensils, so on the other hand it is wrong, under pressing necessity of this kind, for an exceedingly desolated Church to prefer its property to its captives, or to loiter in redeeming them.
Epistle XXXIX.
To John, Bishop.
Gregory to John, Bishop of Syracuse.
Lest attention to secular affairs should disjoin the hearts of religious men (which God forbid) from mutual charity, very earnest endeavour should be made to bring any matter that has come into dispute to the easiest possible termination. Since, then, from the information of Cæsarius, abbot of St. Peter’s monastery, constituted in a place called Baias, we find that between him and John, abbot of St. Lucia’s monastery, constituted in the city of Syracuse, there has arisen a serious question about certain boundaries, we, lest this contention should be prolonged between them, have taken thought for their dispute being terminated by the determination of a land-measurer. And accordingly we have written to the defensor Fantinus, bidding him direct John the land-measurer, who has gone from Rome to Panormus, to resort to your Fraternity.
We exhort, therefore, that you go with him to the places about which there is contention, and, both parties having been brought together, cause the places in dispute to have their boundaries defined in your presence, though still with a claim of prescription for forty years preserved to either party. But, whatever may be determined, let it be your Fraternity’s anxious and studious care to have it so observed that no strife may henceforth be stirred up anew, nor any further complaint reach us.
We believe that it is not unknown to your Fraternity that the venerable abbot Cæsarius was formerly our friend; and therefore, saving equity, we commend him to you in all respects. And, seeing that he is entirely inexperienced in secular causes, it is needful for him to be aided by your solicitude; yet so that, in this as in all cases, you observe, as is fit, reason and justice.
Epistle XL.
To Eulogius, Bishop.
Gregory to Eulogius, Bishop of Alexandria.
Your most sweet Holiness has spoken much in your letter
to me about the chair of Saint Peter, Prince of the apostles, saying
that he himself now sits on it in the persons of his successors.
And indeed I acknowledge myself to be unworthy, not only in the dignity
of such as preside, but even in the number of such as stand. But
I gladly accepted all that has been said, in that he has spoken to me
about Peter’s chair who occupies Peter’s chair. And,
though special honour to myself in no wise delights me, yet I greatly
rejoiced because you, most holy ones, have given to yourselves what you
have bestowed upon me. For who can be ignorant that holy Church
has been made firm in the solidity of the Prince of the apostles, who
derived his name from the firmness of his mind, so as to be called
Petrus
As to the
view here expressed of the unity of the three Sees of Rome, Antioch,
and Alexandria, see Prolegom., p. xii.
Furthermore, I have wished to send you some timber: but your Blessedness has not indicated whether you are in need of it: and we can send some of much larger size, but no ship is sent hither capable of containing it: and I think shame to send the smaller sort. Nevertheless let your Blessedness inform me by letter what I should do.
I have however sent you, as a small blessing from the Church of Saint Peter who loves you, six of the smaller sort of Aquitanian cloaks (pallia), and two napkins (oraria); for, my affection being great, I presume on the acceptableness of even little things. For affection itself has its own worth, and it is quite certain that there will be no offence in what out of love one has presumed to do.
Moreover I have received the blessing of the holy
Evangelist Mark, according to the note appended to your letter.
But, since I do not drink colatum
“Colaticus. Lapides quoque
medicinalium, mortariarum, et pigmentariarum usibus apti
(Isid. Lib. 16. Orig. cap. 4).” Du
Cange. But colatum here appears to have been some
drink. Genus
potionis, Papiæ, Ægyptios vel
Alexandrinos—Illud forte de quo S. Hieronymus de Vita Clericorum
cum palmarum fructus exprimuntur in liquorem, coatisque frugibus
aqua pinguior coloratur. Du Cange. “Potionis
species apud Ægyptianos, vel saltem Alexandrinos.” Du
Cange.
Epistle XLII.
To Marinianus, Bishop.
Gregory to Marinianus, Bishop of Ravenna.
We find from the information given in your Fraternity’s letter that the sons of the Church of Cornelium are continually supplicating you to consecrate a bishop for them in place of their former bishop who has lapsed, and that you are in doubt as to what should be done in the matter, and await our plain command. Inasmuch, then, as no sort of reason allows any one who has departed criminally to be recalled to the place from which he has lapsed, and as the ordinances of the sacred canons allow not a Church to be without a bishop beyond three months, lest (which God forbid) the ancient foe should lie in wait to tear the Lord’s flock, your Fraternity ought to comply with their entreaty, and ordain a bishop in the place of the lapsed one. For, seeing that you ought to have admonished them to this thing by your exhortations before they asked you, you can have no excuse for refusing them when they demand it of you, since a Church of God ought not to remain long widowed of a bishop of its own.
Epistle XLIII.
To Marinianus, Bishop.
Gregory to Marinianus, Bishop of Ravenna.
It has for some time reached us from the
Epistle I.
To Peter, Bishop.
Gregory to Peter, Bishop of Corsica Bishop of
Aleria in Corsica. Cf. VI. 22.
On receiving the letters of your Fraternity we returned great thanks to Almighty God, that you had been so good as to refresh us with the news of the gathering in of many souls. And accordingly let your Fraternity strive anxiously to bring to perfection, with the help of the Lord, the work which you have begun. And with regard to those who have once been faithful, but from negligence or under constraint have returned to the worship of idols, make haste to bring them back to the faith, imposing on them a penance of a few days, that they may bewail their guilt, and keep to that to which they return, God helping them, the more firmly as they shall have perfectly deplored that from which they now depart; and with regard to those who have not yet been baptized, let thy Fraternity make haste, by admonishing, by beseeching, by alarming them about the coming judgment, and also by giving reasons why they should not worship stocks and stones, to gather them in to Almighty God; that so, at His advent, when the strict day of judgment comes, thy Holiness may be found in the number of the Saints. For what more profitable work or more lofty canst thou be engaged in than taking thought for the quickening and gathering together of souls and bringing in immortal gain to thy Lord, Who has given to thee the post of preaching?
Further, we send thy Fraternity fifty
solidi for procuring vestments for those who are to be baptized;
and we have also caused to be given to the presbyter of the Church
situated in Mount Negeugnus A basilica,
with a baptistry attached, had been built on this Mount Negeugnus (or
Nigeunus), on land belonging to the Roman See, for the purpose
of “winning souls.” Cf. VI. 22.
Further, your Fraternity has asked to be allowed to make for yourself an episcopal residence in the church that is not far from the same mountain; which proposal I most gladly accede to, since the nearer you are, the more will you be able to do good to the souls that are there.
In consideration of your Holiness’s intercessions for him we have made the bearer of these presents an acolyte, and have sent him back to attend upon you, in order that, if he should be of still more service in winning souls, he may be in a position to be still further advanced.
Epistle II.
To Anastasius, Bishop of Antioch.
Gregory to Anastasius, Patriarch of Antioch.
I have received the letters of your most sweet
Blessedness, which flowed with tears for words. For I saw in them
a cloud flying aloft as clouds do; but, though it carried with it a
darkness of sorrow, I could not easily discover at its commencement
whence it came or whither it was going, since by reason of the darkness
I speak of I did not fully understand its origin. Yet it becomes
you, most holy ones, ever to recall to mind what the preacher to the
Gentiles says; In the last times perilous times shall be at hand,
and there shall be men loving themselves, covetous, lifted up
( Cf. V. 39, note
3.
But in these days, as I find, new wars of heretics
are arising, about whom I have before now written to your Blessedness,
in such sort that they attempt to invalidate the prophets, the Gospels,
and all the sayings of the Fathers. But, while the life of your
Holiness endures, we trust in the favour of our Protector that their
mouths which have been opened against the solidity of the truth may be
the sooner stopped, inasmuch as, however sharp may be the swords that
are employed, they recoil broken when they strike the rock.
Moreover there is this by the great favour of Almighty God; that among those who are divided from the doctrine of
Holy Church there is no unity, since every kingdom divided against
itself shall not stand ( In
English Bible, lv. 21 (differently rendered from the
Hebrew).
Further, what ills we suffer from the swords of
barbarians, and what from the perversity of judges, I shrink from
relating to your Blessedness, lest I should increase your groaning,
which I ought to diminish by consolation. But in all these things
the precepts of our Master comfort me, who says, These things have I
spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye
shall have tribulation ( In English
Bible, xlix. 14.
Moreover your most sweet Holiness tells me that you would have wished, if it could have been so, to converse with me without paper and pen, and grieves that a distance almost as far as the East is from the West lies between us. But this which I feel I declare is true; that on paper your soul speaks to me without paper, since in the words of your Holiness charity alone sounds, and we are not divided by distance of place who, of the gift of Almighty God, are joined together in the bond of love. Why then seek you to have given you the wings of a dove covered with silver, when you already have them? For indeed these wings are love of God and of our neighbour. For by these holy Church flies aloft, and by these transcends all that is earthly; which if your Holiness had not, you would not have come to me by letter with so great charity.
Further, I beg you to pray earnestly in behalf of the weakness of my heart, to the end that Almighty God may through your intercession defend my soul from all evils, and the sooner snatch me away from the hurricanes of this time, which are so many, and bring me to the shores of eternal rest.
I have received all the very rich
blessings See IV. 31, note
9.
Epistle III.
To Donus, Bishop of Messana (in Sicily).
Gregory to Donus, &c.
The most eloquent man, our son Faustinus, has come to us
and complained that his late father Peltrasius left some things which
were not his own to your Church for his burial. And indeed he
knows himself, and we have
For similar
disapproval of burial fees, cf. IX. 3.
The aforesaid most eloquent man complains also of this; that Sisinnius, the guardian (defensor) of thy Church, unreasonably detains slaves in his possession: concerning whom also he asserts that it had been decided by the judgment of bishop Maximianus of holy memory that the detainer of them should give them up, but that he has so far wilfully put off their restitution. We therefore exhort thy Fraternity that, if the case has manifestly been adjudged, what was ordained be carried out. Otherwise, some one being deputed to act in the case, cause him to resort to the parts of our brother and fellow-bishop Secundinus for judgment, that, when it shall have been declared by his sentence to whom the slaves in question belong, neither the one party may appear to suffer prejudice nor the other bear a grudge.
Epistle V.
To various Metropolitans and Bishops On the subject
of this Epistle, see III. 65, 66.
Gregory to Eusebius of Thessalonica, Urbitius of Dyracchium, Constantius ofMediolanum (Milan), Andrew of Nicopolis, John of Corinth, John of Prima Justiniana, John Cretensi Scoritano, John of Larissa, Marinianus of Ravenna, Januarius of Caralis (Cagliari) in Sardinia, and all the bishops of Sicily.
I have taken care to transmit to your Fraternity the law which the most pious Emperor has issued, to the effect that such as are bound by engagements of military service or public liabilities, may not in any case, in order to escape risk of being called to account, assume the condition of ecclesiastics, or become monks: and this I especially press upon you, that such as are involved in secular engagements are not to be received hastily among the clergy of the Church, since, while they live in an ecclesiastical condition no otherwise than they had lived before, they are by no means trying to escape secular affairs, but to change them. But, if any such should even seek a monastery, they are by no means to be received unless they have first been absolved from their public liabilities. Further, if any from the military order are in haste to become monks, they are not to be received rashly, or until their life has been fully enquired into. And, according to the regular rule, they ought to undergo a probation of three years, and then, God granting it, assume the monastic habit. And if they have thus been proved and accepted, and are anxious, for the good of their souls, to do penance for the sins they have committed, then, with a view to their heavenly life and gain, monastic profession should not be denied them. With respect to this matter also, believe me, the most serene and most Christian Emperor is in every way pacified, and willingly allows the monastic profession of those whom he knows not to be implicated in public liabilities. The Month of December, first Indiction.
Epistle VI.
To Amos, Patriarch of Jerusalem.
Gregory to Amos, Bishop of Jerusalem.
Being confident that your Fraternity pays regard to the
ordinances of the canons and the vigour of discipline, lest the
falseness of one of your clerics should succeed in imposing on you so
as to escape the strictness of ecclesiastical order, we have thought it
right to inform you of his fault, that through your solicitude he may
be subjected to the discipline from which he has fled. We
understand, then, that Peter, an acolyte, whom we had caused to serve
under our son the deacon Sabinianus, our ecclesiastical representative
in the royal city, has fled, and resorted to your Church. If this
is true, let your Fraternity be at pains to secure him, and send him
back hither when
Epistle X.
To Sabinianus, Bishop of Jadera See VII. 17, and
note on VI. 27.
Gregory to Sabinianus, &c.
As to one who perseveres in a fault punishment is rightly due, so pardon should be granted to those who return to a better mind. For, as in the former case anger against the culprit is deservedly provoked, so in the latter good-will displayed is wont to promote concord. And so, inasmuch as a recollection of the gravity of the priestly office has now withdrawn thy Fraternity from fellowship and communion with Maximus, into which thoughtlessness had before betrayed thee; and this to such an extent that thou couldest by no means allow thyself to be content with mere separation from him without also bewailing thy past transgression by betaking thyself to the retirement of a monastery, therefore doubt not that thou art received again into our favour and communion: for, as much as thy fault had before offended us, so much has thy penitence appeased us. We exhort thee, therefore, most beloved brother, that thou be instant in bestowing pastoral solicitude on the Lord’s flock, and be diligently on the watch to make profit of the sheep committed to thy charge; that so the retribution of a copious reward may abound to thee in proportion as thou shalt offer multiplied fruits of thy labour at the coming of the eternal Judge. Strive then to rescue those who have fallen into sin; strive to shew the way of retracing their steps to those that go astray; strive to recall salubriously to the grace of communion those who have been deprived of communion. Let the coming back of your Charity lay on you the duty of rescuing others, and be an example of salvation; to the end that, while your anxious care shall direct the wandering steps of sheep to the folds of the chief shepherd, both they themselves may not be left exposed to the teeth of wolves, and (what is above all things to be desired) that the compensation of condign retribution may await thee in the life eternal.
As to the cause about which you wrote to us, requesting us to guard against any clandestine proceedings against you in the royal city, let not this matter disturb your mind. For we have with all possible care given orders to our responsalis to shew himself solicitous and on his guard. And we trust in the power of our God that things are being so conducted that the opposition of no one shall avail against reason, so as in any way to trouble you or to bear hard upon you.
Furthermore, the inhabitants of the city of
Epidaurus have most urgently requested us to restore to them
Florentius, whom they allege to be their bishop, asserting that he was
driven into exile invalidly by the mere will of the bishop
Natalis See III. 8, and
III. 9, note 2.
Epistle XIII.
To Columbus.
Gregory to Columbus, Bishop of Numidia See II. 48, note
8.
How we may presume on your Charity we gather from the disposition of our own mind with regard to you. Nor do we think that you love the Apostolic See otherwise than as it loves you. Whence it must needs be that we should more peculiarly commend those whom we know to be, as they should be, devoted in the Church of the blessed Peter, Prince of the apostles, to you whose life the action as well as the dignity of a priest adorns, and of whose sincerity we already hold proof from past experience.
As to our brother, therefore, and fellow-bishop
Paul See IV. 34, note
4.
Epistle XIV.
To Boniface, First Guardian (Defensorem).
Gregory to Boniface concerning the privileges of
Guardians See
Prolegom., p. vii.
Those who labour faithfully in the interests of the Church should receive the benefit of suitable remuneration, so that both we may be seen to have made a worthy return for their services, and they may shew themselves the more useful for the favour of the solace granted them. Seeing, then, that those who hold the office of Guardians are known to labour in the causes of the Church and in the service of the pontiffs, we have thought fit that they should enjoy the following prerogatives, granted to them for recompense;—appointing that, as in the school (schola) of notaries and subdeacons, through the indulgence of pontiffs long ago, there have been constituted regionarii, so also among the Guardians seven who may have commended themselves by proved utility shall be distinguished by the dignity of regionarii. And we appoint that these, in the absence of the pontiff, shall have leave to sit anywhere in any assembly of clergy, and enjoy in all respects the privileges of their dignity. Furthermore, if any one, attaining to this position of priority, should by any chance live in another province for his own advantage, he must needs still occupy in all respects his place of priority, so that he may be the chief of all the guardians, as being one who, even before he obtained his position of priority, had not ceased by assiduous personal attention to devote himself to the interests of the Church and the service of the pontiff. These decrees, then, by us constituted, which have been ordained for the privileges and constitution of Guardians, we appoint to be kept in perpetual force and irrefragably;—whether such things as we have decreed in writing, or such as are seen to have been ordained in our presence: and we decree also that they shall not be upset or changed in whole or in part on any occasion whatever by any of the pontiffs. For it is a very harsh proceeding, and especially contrary to good conduct in priests, that any one should endeavour, under any manner of excuse, to rescind what has been well ordained, and also by his example to teach others to dissolve his own constitutions after his own time. The month of April, first Indiction.
Epistle XV.
To Marinianus, Bishop of Ravenna.
Gregory to Marinianus, &c.
How necessary it is to provide for the quiet of
monasteries For other
Epistles in which bishops are forbidden to interfere, except in the
case of need, with monasteries, see Index under
monasteries. Also Prolegom., p. xx. This is among the
many evidences found in Gregory’s Epistles that monks in his day
were essentially laymen. The active duties incumbent on the
clergy were held to be inconsistent with monastic life.
It is to be observed also that no schedule of the property and charters of this monastery must be made by ecclesiastics, if ever circumstances require one: but let the abbot of the place with other abbots make an inventory of the property.
Further, as often as the abbot may perchance wish to go or send to the Roman pontiff in the interest of his monastery, let him have entire liberty to do so.
Furthermore, though the visits of bishops should be looked for with desire by monasteries, yet, seeing that it has been reported to us that the aforesaid monastery in the times of your predecessor was burdened by occasion of entertainment, it is right that your Holiness should regulate this in a becoming manner, so that the prelate of the city may have access to the monastery as often as he pleases for the sake of visiting and exhorting. But let the bishop so fulfil the office of charity there that the monastery incur not any burden. Now the aforesaid abbot not only does not fear your Fraternity’s frequent access to the monastery, but even longingly desires it, knowing that it is quite impossible that the substance of the monastery should be burdened through you. Given in the month of April, first Indiction.
Epistle XVII.
To Maurentius.
Gregory to Maurentius, magister militum This letter is
interesting as one of those which shew Gregory’s carefulness to
retain influence over pious lay friends of position, and his uniform
tone of courtesy in addressing them. Maurentius appears to have
been a military officer of studious habits in Sicily.
My most beloved son, Cyprian the deacon, had pleased me much by his return to me, if his whole self had returned to me. But now that your Glory has stayed in Sicily, I know most certainly that he has returned indeed in body, but in mind has remained in Sicily. Yet, in saying this, I rejoice with you for your quiet as much as I groan for my own occupations. And to this I earnestly exhort you, that, if the pleasant savour of inward sweetness has touched the palate of your heart, your mind be so rapt within itself that all which sounds without, all that delights without, may be distasteful. Moreover I commend you for avoiding concourses of men, seeing that a mind which desires to be renewed in God through the grace of compunction often relapses into its old state through evil conversation and words. I have sought for some to join you in a society for sacred reading, but have found no one, and I exceedingly lament the scarcity of what is good. And though I, a sinner, am very much occupied, yet, if you should wish to come to the threshold of the blessed apostle Peter, you will be able to have me as a close associate in the study of Holy Writ. May Almighty God keep you under His heavenly protection, and grant you to remain defended against the snares of the ancient foe.
Epistle XVIII.
To Agnellus, Bishop of Terracina.
Gregory to Agnellus, &c.
It has come to our ears—a thing shocking to be told—that some in your parts worship trees, and perpetrate many other unlawful things contrary to the Christian faith. And we wonder why your Fraternity has delayed correcting this by strict punishment. On this account we exhort you by this present writing to cause these persons to be sought out by diligent enquiry, and such vengeance to be executed on them that both God may be pacified and their punishment may be an example of rebuke to others.
We have written also to Maurus the Viscount that he
should afford aid to your Fraternity in this matter, that so you may be
unable to find
Epistle XX.
To Marinianus, Bishop of Ravenna.
Gregory to Marinianus, &c.
John, the bearer of these presents, complains that
his wife, flying from the molestations of one George, has long been
residing within venerable precincts The woman had fled
to the precincts of some church for protection from one George, who
apparently claimed her as his slave. The right of temporary
asylum in sacred precincts, from which refugees could not be taken
without the bishop’s assent, rested on imperial edicts.
“Vide lib. I. Cod., tit. 12, cap. 3, ubi imperatores
Theodosius et Valentianus plurima de septis ecclesiasticis
statuunt.…Vocantur etiam claustra dominica, et continent
atria et porticus ecclesiæ, domum episcopi, xxx vel xl passus in
circuitu, et domus quæ iu eis fuerint. Tandem cessavit ista
immunitas ob abusus.” (Note to I. 37 in
Migne’s Patrilogia). Cf. X. 37, where directions are
given to Januarius, bishop of Cagliari, for his course of action in
such cases. I.e. as to
whether she was a free-woman or a slave.
Epistle XXI.
To John, Bishop of Syracuse.
Gregory to John, &c.
Felix, the bearer of these presents, has
complained to us that, being born of Christian parents, he was given
(i.e. as a slave) by a certain Christian to a
Samaræan
Samaræo, meaning apparently a Samaritan, and as such
incapable, as Jews were, of holding Christian slaves. See
Prolegom., p. xxi., and references there. In the case
before us here the Samaritan claimant had himself become a Christian;
and an attempt had been made on this plea to recover for him the
Christian slave who had been emancipated from his father. But
this Gregory will by no means allow.
Epistle XXII.
To Rusticiana, Patrician See II. 27, note
2.
Gregory to Rusticiana, &c.
I remember having before now written to your
Excellency, and repeatedly urged you to lose no time in revisiting the
thresholds of the blessed Peter, Prince of the apostles. And what
means your so great delight in the city of Constantinople, and your
oblivion of the city of Rome, I know not. I have not so far been
thought worthy of getting any information from you on this head.
For how far it might be of advantage to your soul for reaping the
rewards of eternal life, and how far it would suit also in all respects
your glorious daughter, the lady Eusebia, this we fully give our
attention to, and you may no less fully consider. But, if you
enquire of my son Peter, your servant, whom I have found to be wise
beyond his age and to be studying to attain ripeness, you will find how
great is the love towards your Excellency of all who dwell here, and
how great their desire to be thought worthy of seeing you again.
And if, the Lord teaching us, we are
admonished in Holy Writ that we should love even our enemies, we ought
to consider how wrong it is to shew no love even to those who
The ten pounds of gold which your Excellency has
sent for the redemption of captives I have received at the hands of my
aforesaid son. But I pray that the heavenly grace which granted
to you that you should give them for your soul’s reward may also
grant to me to dispense them without any contagion of sin; lest we
should be stained by that whereby you wipe away sins. May
Almighty God, who looks upon the weakness of
your body and your pilgrimage, comfort you ever by His grace, and by
the life and health of my most sweet son the Lord Strategius A grandchild of
Rusticiana. See as above.
Epistle XXIII.
To Fantinus, Guardian (Defensorem).
Gregory to Fantinus, &c.
From the information of the lady abbess of the monastery of Saint Stephen in the territory of Agrigentum we find that many of the Jews, divine grace inspiring them, wish to be converted to the Christian faith; but that it is necessary for some one to go thither by our command. Accordingly we enjoin thee, in virtue of the authority hereby given thee, that, putting aside every excuse, thou make haste to go to the aforesaid place, and with the favour of God aid their desire by thy exhortations. If, however, it seems long and dreary for them to look forward to the Paschal solemnity, and thou findest them anxious for baptism now, then lest long delay should possibly change their minds (which God forbid), speak thou with our brother the bishop of that place, that, penitence and abstinence having been prescribed them for forty days, he may baptize them under the protection of the mercy of Almighty God on a Lord’s day, or on any very noted festival that may chance to occur; since the character of the present time too, on account of impending calamity, impels us not to defer the fulfilment of their desires by any procrastination. Further, whomsoever of them thou ascertainest to be poor and without sufficient means for buying vestments for themselves, we desire thee to supply with vestments for their baptism; and know that the price that thou mayest give for them is to be charged in thy accounts. But, if they should choose to wait for the holy season of Easter, speak again with the bishop, that they may for the present become catechumens, and that he may go to them frequently, and pay careful attention to them, and kindle their minds by the admonition of his exhortations, so that the more distant the expected festival is, the more may they prepare themselves and with fervent desire look forward to it.
Furthermore, let it be thy care to enquire with all zeal and diligence whether the above-named monastery over which the aforesaid lady presides has sufficient means, or whether it suffers any need. And whatever thou mayest truly ascertain, as well as what is done with respect to those who desire to be baptized, make haste to inform us in full. The Month of June, first Indiction.
Epistle XXIV.
To Sabinianus, Bishop of Jadera See VI. 27, VII.
17, VIII. 10, and III. 47, note 2.
Gregory to Sabinianus, &c.
I am well delighted in thy sincerity, dearest
brother, knowing how, with the discrimination of a careful judgment, it
both obeys where obedience is due and resists where resistance is due
with priestly zeal. For with what alacrity of devotion thou hast
submitted to what we enjoined for the fault of thy past transgression
is disclosed to us by the contents of the letters which thou hast sent
to us by the bearer of these presents. For indeed my beloved
brother could not take it otherwise than as it was enjoined by one who
loves him. Hence I trust in the compassion of Almighty
God that His grace so protects thee that,
having been thus absolved also from other sins, thou mayest rejoice in
having wholesomely obeyed. But as to what thy Charity has
signified about being distressed by the jealousy of the excommunicated
prevaricator Maximus, thou oughtest not to be disturbed; but it becomes
thee by patiently enduring to bear up against the billows that swell
vainly to some small degree, and by the virtue of perseverence to
subdue
As to the things about which thou hast written, or which the bearer of these presents has explained in our presence, do not suppose that we are neglecting them: we are very carefully considering them.
Further, we have already, both before and now,
given accurate information about everything to our most beloved son the
deacon Anatolius At this time
Gregory’s apocrisiarius at Constantinople. Cf. VII.
31, IX. 82. Callinicus, who at
this time was Exarch of Italy at Ravenna. See IX. 9, with note,
and III. 47, note 2.
As to the presbyter about whom thy Fraternity has consulted us through the representation of the bearer of these presents, know that after his lapse he cannot by any means remain in, or be restored to, his sacred order. Still be ought to be somewhat mildly dealt with, inasmuch as he is said to have readily confessed his fault. Furthermore, this same bearer spoke at the same time of certain privileges of your Church granted by our predecessors.
About the writings thus referred to by your Charity we wish to be more accurately informed. Or, if any of them are lying in the registry of your Church, it is necessary that copies of them be transmitted hither; that we may be able with willing mind to renew whatever concerns reverence for your dignity or the genius of the aforesaid Church.
If our common son, the glorious lord
Marcellus Proconsul of
Dalmatia. Cf. IX. 5, and III. 47, note 2.
Epistle XXIX.
To Eulogius, Bishop of Alexandria.
Gregory to Eulogius, &c.
An address from a learned man is always profitable, because the hearer either learns what he had known himself to be ignorant of, or, what is more, comes to know what he did not know he had been ignorant of. A hearer of the latter kind I have now become, your most holy Blessedness having been minded to write to me, asking me to send you the acts of all the martyrs, which were collected in the times of Constantine, of pious memory, by Eusebius of Cæsarea. But before receiving the letter of your Blessedness I did not know of these acts, whether they had been collected, or whether not. I therefore give thanks that, instructed by your most holy teaching, I have begun to know what I was ignorant of. For beside what is contained about the acts of the holy martyrs in the books of the same Eusebius, I am not aware of any collections in the archives of this our Church, or in the libraries of the city of Rome, unless it be some few things collected in one single volume. We have indeed the names of almost all the martyrs, with their passions assigned to particular days, collected in one volume; and we celebrate the solemnities of mass on such days in commemoration of them. Yet it is not indicated in this volume who each was, and how he suffered; but only his name, the place, and day, of his passion are put down. Hence it results that many of divers countries and provinces are known to have been crowned with martyrdom, as I have said, through their several days. But these we believe you have. That, however, which you wish to have sent to you we have sought for, but have not found; but, though we have not found it, we will still search, and, if it can be found, will send it.
We have received with the kindliness wherewith it
was sent the blessing of Saint Mark the Evangelist, nay, it may be said
more truly, of Saint Peter the Apostle Cf. VII. 40, for
Gregory’s view of the sees of Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch,
jointly representing the see of St. Peter.
Epistle XXX.
To Eulogius, Bishop of Alexandria.
Gregory to Eulogius, &c.
Our common son, the bearer of these presents, when
he brought the letters of your Holiness found me sick, and has left me
sick; whence it has ensued that the scanty water of my brief epistle
has been hardly able to exude to the large fountain of your
Blessedness. But it was a heavenly boon that, while in a state of
bodily pain, I received the letter of your Holiness to lift me up with
joy for the instruction of the heretics of the city of Alexandria, and
the concord of the faithful, to such an extent that the very joy of my
mind moderated the severity of my suffering. And indeed we
rejoice with new exultation to hear of your good doings, though at the
same time we by no means suppose that it is a new thing for you to act
thus perfectly. For that the people of holy Church increases,
that spiritual crops of corn for the heavenly garner are multiplied, we
never doubted that this was from the grace of Almighty God which flowed largely to you, most blessed ones.
We therefore render thanks to Almighty God,
that we see fulfilled in you what is written, Where there is much
increase, there the strength of the oxen is manifest
(
But, since in the good things you do I know that you also rejoice with others, I make you a return for your favour, and announce things not unlike yours; for while the nation of the Angli, placed in a corner of the world, remained up to this time misbelieving in the worship of stocks and stones, I determined, through the aid of your prayers for me, to send to it, God granting it, a monk of my monastery for the purpose of preaching. And he, having with my leave been made bishop by the bishops of Germany, proceeded, with their aid also, to the end of the world to the aforesaid nation; and already letters have reached us telling us of his safety and his work; to the effect that he and those that have been sent with him are resplendent with such great miracles in the said nation that they seem to imitate the powers of the apostles in the signs which they display. Moreover, at the solemnity of the Lord’s Nativity which occurred in this first indiction, more than ten thousand Angli are reported to have been baptized by the same our brother and fellow-bishop. This have I told you, that you may know what you are effecting among the people of Alexandria by speaking, and what in the ends of the world by praying. For your prayers are in the place where you are not, while your holy operations are shewn in the place where you are.
In the next place, as to the person of Eudoxius
the heretic Cf. VII. 4, and
34.
Your Blessedness has also been careful to declare that
you do not now make use of proud titles, which have sprung from a root
of vanity, in writing to certain persons, and
And, indeed, in the synod of Chalcedon and
afterwards by subsequent Fathers, your Holiness knows that this was
offered to my predecessors Cf. V. 18, note
5.
Epistle XXXIII.
To Dominicus.
Gregory to Dominicus, Bishop of Carthage.
The letter of your Holiness, which we received at
the hands of the bearer of these presents, so expressed priestly
moderation as to soothe us, in a manner, with the bodily presence of
its author. Nor indeed does infrequency of communication cause
any harm where the affection of love remains uninterrupted in
one’s mind. Great, moreover, is the power of charity,
beloved brother, which binds hearts one to another in mutual affection
with the chain of its sincerity, and suffers them not to be loosened
from the cohesion of grace, which conjoins things disjoined, keeps
together things united, and causes persons who are unknown by sight to
be known through love. Whosoever therefore fixes his heart on the
hinge of charity, him no impulse of any adversity whatever tears from
the habitation of the heavenly country, since, in whatever direction he
may turn himself, he parts not from the threshold of the
commandments. Hence also it is said by the excellent preacher in
praise of this same charity, Which is the bond of perfectness
(
Wherefore, since the language of thy letters shews
thee to be inflamed with the fire of this virtue, I rejoice in the
Lord with abundant exultation, and hope that
it may shine forth in thee more and more, seeing that the flame of the
shepherd is the light of the flock. For it becomes the
Lord’s priest “Dominicam
sacerdotam,” perhaps with allusion to the name of Dominicus.
Knowing, furthermore, whence priestly ordination
took its beginning in the African parts, you act laudably in recurring
with wise recollection, in your love of the Apostolic See, to the
origin of your office, and in continuing with commendable constancy in
your affection towards it See II. 47, note
6.
It remains, most dear brother, that we beseech
Almighty God with continual prayer that He
would direct the steps of our hearts into the pathway of His truth, and
bring us to the heavenly kingdoms, granting us by the grace of His
protection to exhibit in our works the office which we bear in
name. The Month of August, first Indiction The date
varies in some few mss.
Epistle XXXIV.
To John Bishop of Scyllacium The address in the
text is “Episcopo Scillitano.” That the see was that
of Scyllacium in Brutia appears from the contents of the epistle.
Syllacium itself appears to have been a Castrum, which had
been erected on land belonging to a monastery. The epistle is
illustrative of Gregory’s anxiety to protect the property and
privileges of monasteries against bishops. See Prolegom.,
p. xx., and references in Index under Monasteries.
Gregory to John, &c.
It is evidently a very serious thing, and contrary to
what a priest should aim at, to
Further, inasmuch as they have likewise complained
that thy Fraternity has taken certain things from the monastery under
the guise of their being, as it were, an offering Sub xenii
quasi specie. For the meaning of the word xenium, see
II. 23, note 8.
The monks of the aforesaid monastery have also
informed us that the camp which is called Scillacium is built on ground
belonging to their monastery, and that on this account those who live
there pledged themselves in writing Libellis
factis; meaning apparently that there had been written memoranda of
agreement. The word
solatium is variously used, sometimes for any kind of aid or
succour; sometimes for remuneration for services done, or grants in
aid; here apparently for payment in the way of rent for the land
occupied.
Furthermore, the monks of the aforesaid monastery have complained to us that their abbot has granted to thy Fraternity by title of gift land within the camp of Scillacium, to the extent of six hundred feet, under pretext of building a church: and accordingly it is our will that as much land as the walls of the church, when built, can surround shall be claimed as belonging to the church. But let whatever may be outside the walls of the said church revert without dispute to the possession of the monastery. For the ordinances neither of worldly laws nor of the sacred canons permit the property of a monastery to be segregated by any title from its ownership. On this account restore thou this gift of land which has been granted against reason.
Epistle XXXV.
To Leontius, Ex-Consul.
Gregory to Leontius, &c.
Since in a great house there are not only vessels of
gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth, and some indeed to
honour but some to dishonour (
For this also we greatly rejoice, that the gifts
which you sent us were not unlike your character. For indeed we
received oil of the holy cross “Oil of
the cross” is spoken of not infrequently from the 6th century
downward as efficient for healing. In the Itinerarium
attributed to Antoninus of Placentia in that century mention is made of
ampullæ of onyx stone containing oil being brought into
contact with the wood of the true cross which was supposed to be
preserved in Constantine’s Church on Golgotha, and the oil
thereupon at once boiling over. It may have been oil which was
believed to have thus acquired healing virtue that was originally meant
by “oil of the cross.” But in the following century
we find notice of a belief that oil flowed miraculously from the wood
of the cross itself. For Adamnan, in his book De locis
sanctis (which is mentioned by Bede, H. E. V. 15, as
presented by him to King Aldfrid of Northumbria, and published by
Mabillon, de S. Adamn. Act. Benedict. sæc. iii. part ii. p.
456), speaks of his informant, Arcuulf, a Gallic bishop, having seen at
Constantinople, a piece of the true cross which had been sent thither
by Helena, from the knots of which an odorous liquid with healing
virtues flowed.
Many other things also you have sent for our
store-houses, since, as we subsist both in soul and in flesh, it was
needful that we should be sustained in both. And yet in
transmitting these things your most sweet soul declares that it blushes
much for shame, and holds out the shield of charity before this same
shame-facedness. But I altogether rejoice in these words, since
from this attestation of the soul I know that he can never take away
what is another’s who blushes even in bestowing what is his
own. Your gifts however, which you call small, are great:
but I think that your Glory’s very humility enhances them yet the
more. And you beg me to receive them kindly. But meanwhile
recall to your memory the two mites of a certain widow ( Filings from the
supposed chains of St. Peter, preserved at Rome, were inserted in keys
for his sepulchre (cf. IV. 30), and these keys were sent by Gregory to
various persons as valuable charms. Cf. I. 26, note 3.
Indexes
Index of Scripture References
Genesis
1:1-19 1:2 1:2 1:5 2:7 2:17 2:17 3:14 3:19 3:19 4:4 9:1 11:7 12:3 18 18:1 18:20 19 19:20 19:21 21:10 22:18 22:18 25:23 27:27 28:12 29 31:47-48 32:24 33:11 34:1-3 34:2 34:25 34:30 49:10
Exodus
3 12 12:11 12:23 12:23 12:23 14:29 15:6 15:19 16:6 16:8 18:17-18 18:30 21:33-34 22:8 22:28 25:12 28:8 28:15 28:33 28:34 28:35 29:5 29:22 32:6 32:27 32:27 33:20 34:33 34:35
Leviticus
15:2 19:14 21 21:13 21:13-14 21:14 21:17 21:18 23:26-44
Numbers
10:29 22:23 23:10 24:17 25:9 29
Deuteronomy
6:5 8:3 19:4-5 19:15 25:4 25:5 28:66 32:42
Joshua
Ruth
1 Samuel
2:25 2:29 4:17-18 15:17 18:10 24:4 24:6 24:18 25:37
2 Samuel
2:22-23 7:27 11:17 12:4-5 12:7
1 Kings
2:9 7:23 10:22 15:17 15:30 17:11
2 Kings
2:24 5:14 5:15 6:16 11:3 11:15 20:13 25:10
1 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
Ezra
Job
1:1 1:8 7:1 10:15 14:4 19:4 26:5 31:26-28 36:5 38:36 41:7 41:14 41:25 41:25 41:25
Psalms
1:1 2:11 6:6 6:6 7:4 9:14 11:2 15:1 15:1 15:5 15:5 16:10 18:44 19:1-2 19:4 22:1 22:12-13 22:16 22:16-17 22:16-17 22:20 23:4 25:10 26:8 27:1 30:5 30:6 30:7 31:5 31:14 33:5 33:20 34:3 34:5 34:8 34:18 34:18 36:4 37:20 37:23-24 38:8 40 40:10-11 40:12 40:12 41:1 41:1 41:1-3 44:22 49:9 49:14 49:17 51:3 51:3 51:15 51:17 54:3 55:5 55:15 55:21 68:35 68:61 69:2 69:2 69:2 69:2 69:4 69:21 69:21 69:24 73:18 73:18 75:4 76:1 77:10 77:34 78:39 79:6 81:7 81:7 81:10 83:13 84:6 84:12 85:12 86:9 95:2 96:10 98:2 102:4 105:4 105:44 108:6 109:1 109:6 109:97 110:1 110:4 112:9 115:5 116:15 118:16 118:16 118:22 118:24 119:73 119:73 119:106 119:107 119:107 119:165 120 120:2 120:7 123:8 126:2 128:3 130:7 131:9 134 135:23-24 135:23-24 136:4 138:6 138:17 139:10 139:21 139:21-22 140:3 140:5 141:3 141:11 144:21 145:14 145:14 145:19 145:19 146:6 146:7-8 150:4 150:4
Proverbs
1:5 1:24 1:28 1:31 1:32 3:11 3:16 3:28 3:32 4:25 5:1 5:9 5:15-17 6:1 6:3 6:4 6:6 6:12-14 9:1 9:1 10:9 10:19 11:17 11:25 11:26 14:4 14:30 15:7 15:33 16:5 16:5 16:18 16:18 16:18 16:32 17:14 18:4 18:9 19:11 19:14 19:15 19:15 20:4 20:21 20:27 20:30 21:11 21:13 21:26 21:26 21:28 21:30 23:35 23:35 25:28 26:10 27:6 27:22 28:14 28:20 29:11
Ecclesiastes
3:7 5:9 7:9 7:17 9:10 11:4 11:9 20:7
Song of Solomon
Isaiah
1:2-3 1:16 3:9 5:1-5 5:8 6:5 6:8 6:8 7:14 7:14 7:14 9:2 9:6 9:6 9:13 11:1 14:13 14:13 14:13 22:22 23:4 30:15 30:20-21 32:17 34:15 35:5-6 38:15 39:4 40:1 40:9 42:16 42:16 43:2 43:25-26 43:26 45:8 46:8 48:10 50:6 52:10 52:11 52:15 53:1 53:8 53:45 54:4 54:4 54:11 55:5 56:4-5 56:10 56:11 57:11 58:1 58:1 58:3 58:3 58:5 58:9 58:14 61:8 64:4 65:1 65:1 65:1 65:2 66:2 66:2
Jeremiah
1:5 1:6 1:6 1:10 2:8 3:1 3:3 3:3 4:4 5:3 5:3 6:29 9:1 9:5 15:6 23:2 23:5 31:31 31:33 39:9 48:10 51:9
Lamentations
Ezekiel
1:18 3:17 3:17 4:1 8:8 8:9-10 8:9-10 8:9-10 8:10 13:5 13:18 16:14-15 21:27 22:18 23:3 24:4 24:12 32:19 34:4 34:18-19 36:5 43:13 44:20 44:20 44:22
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
2:12-13 2:12-13 2:15 2:15 2:16 2:16
Amos
Micah
Habakkuk
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
Matthew
1:1 1:1 1:1 1:22-23 1:23 1:23 2:1-12 2:10-11 2:16 3:11 3:17 3:17 3:17 4:1-11 4:3 4:4 4:10 4:23-24 5:1-9 5:3 5:3 5:4 5:5 5:6 5:6 5:7 5:7 5:7 5:7 5:7 5:8 5:9 5:9 5:9 5:9 5:14 5:15 5:16 5:16 5:16 5:17 5:17 5:17 5:23-24 5:23-24 6:1 6:1 6:2 6:3 6:5 6:6 6:10 6:10 6:12 6:12 6:12 6:14 6:14 6:15 6:15 6:21 6:24 6:25 7 7:2 7:3 7:3 7:6 7:13 7:14 7:14 7:14 7:14 7:15 7:15 9:3 9:13 10:8 10:8 10:8 10:8 10:16 10:16 10:19 10:24 10:24 10:26 10:32 10:34 10:38 10:42 11:28 11:29 11:29-30 11:29-30 12:32 12:35 12:36 12:36 12:44-45 13:17 13:28 13:31-32 13:33 13:43 13:43 15:11 15:11 15:13 15:14 16:13 16:13 16:13-16 16:16 16:16 16:16 16:16 16:16-19 16:17-18 16:18 16:18 16:18 16:18 16:18 16:19 16:19 16:26 16:28 17:1-13 17:6 18:6 18:6 18:7 18:15 18:19-20 18:20 19:6 19:11 20:25 20:25 20:26-28 20:27 20:28 20:28 21:12 21:12 22:11-13 22:32 22:37 22:37 22:37 22:39 22:43-44 23:6-7 23:7-8 23:11-12 23:13 23:13 23:17 23:23 23:24 24:13 24:20 24:48 25:18 25:21 25:23 25:24 25:40 25:40 25:41 25:42-43 26:5 26:38-39 26:38-39 26:39 26:39 26:39 26:39 26:41 26:42 26:42 26:42 26:53 27:1 27:19 27:19 27:25 27:25 27:25 27:42 27:42 27:51 27:51 27:51 27:54 27:54 27:54 28:10 28:16-20 28:19 28:19 28:19-20 28:20 28:20 28:20 28:20
Mark
3:17 4:24 5:19 6:6 8:36 9:49 9:49 9:50 9:50 9:50 12:30 16:9-20 16:15 16:16
Luke
1:35 1:35 1:43 1:46 2:7 2:13 2:14 2:14 2:14 2:14 2:42-43 2:49 3:9 3:15-23 3:16 5:17 5:46 6:12 6:24 6:25 6:27 6:30 6:36 6:36-38 6:36-38 6:38 6:41 6:41 6:45 7 7:47 7:47 8:14 9:10 9:50 9:60 9:62 9:62 10:24 10:27 10:34 10:34 10:39 10:39 10:40 11 11:21-22 11:41 12:16-20 12:19-20 12:23 12:42 12:47 13:27 14:11 14:11 14:11 14:11 14:11 14:11 14:12 15:7 16:10 16:13 16:24 16:25 17:10 17:18 18:12 18:14 18:14 18:14 18:14 18:14 19:10 19:10 19:10 19:13 19:13 19:46 21:2-4 21:19 21:19 21:34 21:34 21:34 21:34 21:35 21:35 22:25 22:31 22:53 22:61 22:61 23:34 23:34 23:34 24:27 24:36 24:38-39 24:39 24:49 27
John
1 1:1-3 1:1-3 1:1-3 1:1-3 1:3 1:3 1:3 1:3 1:3 1:3 1:9 1:12 1:13 1:13 1:13 1:13 1:13 1:14 1:14 1:14 1:14 1:14 1:14 1:14 1:17 1:17 1:17 1:18 1:29 1:29 1:29 2:19 3:8 3:8 3:16 4:2-3 5:30 5:30 6:15 6:53 8:11 8:24 8:38 8:44 8:44 8:56 8:56 10:11 10:12 10:15 10:16 10:17 10:30 10:30 10:30 10:30 10:30 10:30 10:30 10:30 10:30 10:38 10:38 10:38 12:6 12:23 12:23 12:27 12:27 12:28 12:28 12:30-32 12:30-32 12:31 12:32 12:32 12:32 12:32 13:1 13:2 13:27 13:27 13:29 14:6 14:6 14:6 14:9 14:9 14:9 14:16 14:26 14:27 14:27 14:27 14:28 14:28 14:28 14:28 14:28 14:28 14:28 14:28 14:28 15:16-17 16:12 16:12-15 16:13 16:15 16:20 16:22 16:33 16:33 16:33 17:3 17:12 17:20-21 17:21 18:3 18:11 20:17 20:19 20:22 20:22-23 20:29 21:15-17 21:17 21:17 21:17 21:17 21:18 50
Acts
1:11 1:11 1:20 2:1 2:1-4 2:3 2:22-24 2:37-38 2:37-41 2:37-41 2:38 3:6 4:12 4:12 4:12 4:27-28 4:32 4:32 4:32 5:2 6:1-6 7:38 9:4 9:15 9:15 10:13 10:26 11:26 14:16-17 14:22 17:18 20:26-27 20:26-27 22:8 23:6
Romans
1:1-3 1:3 1:8 1:14 1:16 1:20 1:22 1:25 2:12 2:25 3:2 4:20-21 4:21 5:1 5:1 5:5 5:7-8 5:18-19 5:20 6:3-5 6:12 6:12 7 7:23 7:23 8:1 8:14 8:15 8:15 8:17 8:18 8:18 8:24 8:24 8:28 8:32 8:34 8:35 8:35 8:35 8:35 8:35-37 8:38 9:5 9:5 9:26 10:4 10:4 10:10 11:13 11:20 11:32 12:3 12:5 12:10 12:15 12:15 12:16 12:18 12:18 13:3 13:11 13:13 13:14 14:3 14:3 14:21 14:23 15:2 15:4 16:17-18 16:19 16:19
1 Corinthians
1:10 1:10 1:10 1:12 1:13 1:13 1:17-20 1:24 1:24 1:26 1:27 2:8 2:9 2:12 2:12 3:1-2 3:3 3:4 3:7 3:9 3:11 3:16 3:18 4:5 4:7 4:7 4:21 5:1-2 5:5 5:7 5:8 5:8 5:8 5:8 5:8 5:8 5:8 6:4 6:9-10 6:11 6:12 6:13 6:20 7:1-2 7:2 7:3 7:3 7:5 7:5 7:6 7:9 7:19 7:21 7:29 7:29 7:29-30 7:29-31 7:29-31 7:30 7:31 8:8 8:9 9:9 9:20 9:27 10:13 10:17 10:24 10:24 10:24 10:33 11:19 11:31 12:3 12:3-6 12:3-6 12:6 12:6 12:6 12:12 12:26 13:4 13:4 13:4 13:4 13:12 14:1 14:1 14:20 14:25 14:38 14:38 15:21-22 15:22 15:28 15:33 15:33 15:34 15:45 15:47-49 15:48 15:53 17:6
2 Corinthians
1:8-9 1:9 1:17 1:23 2:15 2:17 3:17 3:17 4:5 4:18 4:18 5:13 5:14-15 5:15 5:15 5:16 5:19 5:19 5:19 6:1 6:2 6:2 6:7 7:1 8:9 8:9 8:13-14 8:14 9:6 9:7 9:7 9:7 9:7 9:10 10:2 10:6 11:2 11:5 11:14 11:14 11:28-29 11:29 11:29 11:29 12:2 12:3 13:4
Galatians
1:9 1:9 1:10 2:9 2:9-10 2:10 2:11 2:18 3:1 3:3 3:16 3:22 3:27-28 3:27-29 4 4:4 4:4 4:4 4:6 4:30 5:17 5:17 5:22 6:1 6:2 6:2 6:14
Ephesians
1:15-23 2 2:4-5 2:8-10 2:14 2:14 2:18 2:18 2:20 3:10 4:3 4:3 4:3 4:3 4:3 4:3-4 4:5 4:5-6 4:14 4:31 4:31 5:2 5:2 5:2 5:23 5:25 5:29 5:29 5:30-32 6:5 6:9 6:12 6:14-17 6:15
Philippians
1:11 1:21 1:28 2:4 2:5-11 2:6 2:6 2:6 2:6 2:6-7 2:6-11 2:8 2:9-11 2:10 2:10-11 2:10-11 2:13 2:21 2:21 2:21 2:21 2:21 3:13 3:19 3:20-21 4:4 4:10
Colossians
1:12-13 1:18 1:18 1:18-20 2:8 2:8 2:8-10 2:8-10 2:9 2:10 2:14 2:14 2:18-19 2:25 3:1-2 3:1-4 3:1-4 3:2 3:2 3:3 3:3-4 3:3-4 3:5 3:14 3:20-21 3:22 3:22 4:6
1 Thessalonians
2 Thessalonians
1 Timothy
1:7 1:15 2:4 2:5 2:6 3:1 3:1 3:2 3:2 3:7 3:10 3:16 3:16 3:16 3:27 4:1 4:1 4:3 4:11-12 4:13 4:14 4:14 5:1 5:1-2 5:8 5:14 5:22 5:22 5:23 6:1 6:10 6:10 6:10 6:16 6:17 6:20 6:20
2 Timothy
2:4 2:4 2:8 2:12 2:12 2:14 2:17 2:20 2:20 2:25-26 3:5 3:12 3:12 3:12 4:1 4:2 4:2 4:3-4
Titus
1:9 1:15 1:15 1:16 1:16 1:16 1:16 2:9 2:15 3:10-11
Philemon
Hebrews
2:14 5:4 8:8-12 8:13 9:4 10:20 10:20 10:20 11:6 11:36-37 12:5-6 12:6 12:9-10 12:12-13 12:14 12:14 12:14 12:14 12:14 12:18 13:4 13:7 13:12
James
1:5 1:19 1:26 2:20 2:26 3:1 3:2 3:2 3:8 3:8 3:14-15 3:17 4:4 4:6 4:6 5:16
1 Peter
1:2 1:13 1:18 2:6 2:9 2:9 2:9 2:11 2:11 2:21-24 3:14 3:15 4:11 4:11 5:1 5:3 5:8 5:8 5:9 5:9
2 Peter
1 John
1:7 2:4 2:6 2:18 2:19 3:2 3:8 3:14 3:15 4:2-3 4:2-3 4:4 4:4 4:4 4:18 4:19 4:19 5:4-8 5:8 5:19 5:20 5:20 17:11
Revelation
3:2 3:11 3:15-16 3:18 3:19 4:6 14:4 17:15 19:20 21:5 22:17
Tobit
Wisdom of Solomon
1:5 1:11 2:24 2:24 2:24 3:7 9:15 9:15
Susanna
Sirach
2:1 3:30 3:30 3:33 6:6 7:14 10:9 10:9 10:13 11:10 12:4 13:1 18:30 19:1 20:32 27:12 29:15 29:15 32:1 32:10 32:10 32:24 34:20 34:25
Index of Greek Words and Phrases
- ἀγαπᾶν: 1
- ἀνακειμένοις: 1
- ἀντίδοσις: 1
- ἀπὸ τῆς πρωτοτύπου πέτρας: 1
- ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου: 1
- ἀρχιμάγειρος: 1
- ἄκρατον: 1
- ἐν ἑαυτῷ ἄκρατον τοῦ συνειδότος ἔχων τὸν ἔλεγχον: 1
- ἐν τοῖς τοῦ Πατρός μου: 1
- ἐπαρχίας: 1
- ἐπισκόπων: 1
- ἐπισφραγίσασα: 1
- ἐπιψηφίσασα: 1
- ἐρᾶν: 1
- ἔγγραφον: 1
- ἔφηλος: 1
- ἕως ἃν ἔλθῃ τὰ ἀποκείμενα αὐτῷ: 1
- ἡ ἐν Χριστῷ τελεία διαμονή: 1
- ἡ ὑμῶν ἀδελφότης: 1
- ἡ τὸν σύλλογον τῷ νυμφῶνι: 1
- ἦν ποτε ὅτε οὐκ ἦν: 1
- ἦς τινος ὁμολογίας: 1
- ὁ ἁγιώτατος καὶ μακαριώτατος ἀρχιεπίσκοπος τῆς μεγάλης καὶ πρεσβυτέρας ῾Ρώμης Λέων: 1
- ὁμοούσιον: 1
- ὑψηλόν: 1
- ᾧ ἀποκεῖται: 1
- Γκ. ἑκάτερον: 1
- α: 1 2
- αἰδῶ πᾶσαν ἀποβαλὼν καὶ ἣν περιέκειτο τῆς πλάνης δορὰν ἀποτιναξάμενος: 1
- β: 1 2
- βούβαλος: 1
- γ: 1 2
- δύναμις: 1
- δεσποτικὰ: 1
- διάβολος: 1
- δι᾽ αὐτοῦ: 1
- διαθήκης: 1
- διαιρεῖν: 1
- δυνάμεις: 1
- εὐβουλίαν: 1
- εὔνοιαν: 1
- θεοτόκος: 1
- κἂν τοῖς δευτέροις ἰάσασθαι τὰ πρότερα: 1
- κώμη: 1
- κατὰ σάρκα: 1
- κειμήλια: 1
- κολυμβήθρα: 1
- λίαν: 1
- λόγια: 1
- λύει: 1
- λειχὴν: 1
- λογεῖον: 1
- λογικοῦ: 1
- μάνδρα: 1
- μέγα ἐστί τὸ τῆς ἐυσεβείας μυστήριον: 1
- μετὰ τοῦ συλλειτουργοῦ μου: 1
- μεταβῇ: 1
- μετανοεῖν: 1
- μετεμψύωσις: 1
- μονόρχις: 1
- μονογενής: 1
- μυστηρίῳ: 1
- οἰκουμενικὸν: 1
- οἰκουμενικὸς ἀρχιεπίσκοπος: 1
- πάσχειν: 1
- παθητός: 1
- παραθήκη: 1
- περὶ δὲ τῆς ἁγιότητος τῆς μεγάλης πίστεως: 1
- πλάσμα: 1
- πλάτος: 1
- ποιεῖν: 1
- πράσσειν: 1
- προθεμετα ὕβρεως καὶ λοιοορίας ἀνάμεστα: 1
- πτίλλος τοὺς οφθαλμούς: 1
- σύμβολον: 1
- σύνοδος ἐνδημοῦσα: 1
- σπαργάνων: 1
- στεφανοῦσα καλλίνικος Εὐφημία: 1
- τὴν δήλωσιν καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν: 1
- τῆς οἰκουμένης: 1
- τῶν ἀναγεννηθησομένων: 1
- τῷ ἐνδοξοτάτῳ καὶ φιλανθρωποτάτῳ κ.τ.λ: 1
- τῷ κρίνοντι δικαίως: 1
- τοὺς διδαχθησομένους: 1
- φορέσομεν: 1
- φορεσωμεν: 1
- χάρις: 1
- χρηστός: 1
- ψώρα ἀγρία: 1
Index of French Words and Phrases
- Œuvres très complètes de Saint Leon le Grand publièes d’après l’édition des frères Ballerinii et celle de Paschase Quesnel enrichées de préfaces, d’avertissements et de commentaires, suivies des exercices de Cacciari sur toutes les œuvres du saint docteur. Paris: 1
- , Memoires pour servir à l’histoire Ecclesiastique: 1
- Histoire Universelle de l’Eglise catholique: 1
- Histoire du Pontificat de Saint Léon le Grand par Monsr. L. Maimbourg La Haye: 1
- Histoire du Xtianisme: 1
- Histoire du pontificat de Saint Léon le Grand, Paris: 1
- Histoire générale des Auteurs sacrés: 1
- L’edition que l’on doit aujourd’hui préférer, est: 1
- L’ile de St. Honorat: 1
- La vie et religion de deux bons papes Léon premier et Gregoire premier par: 1
- Le Nain de Tillemont: 1
- Lerins: 1
- Pierre Du Moulin: 1
- Sacristain d’une église, chargé de la garder, de sonner les cloches pour l’office divin, de préparer les reliquaires: 1
- celle qui a été publiée par M. l’abbé Migne sous le titre d: 1
- on reproche aux éditions du P. Quesnel un grand nombre de falsifications, par lesquelles le P. Quesnel se proposait notamment d’affaiblir l’autorité pontificale: 1
- prêtre de l’oratoire: 1
Index of Pages of the Print Edition
ia i iii v vi vii viii ix x xi xii xiii xiv xv 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 210 ib iiib vib viib viiib ixb xb xib xiib xiiib xivb xvb xvib xviib xviiib xixb xxb xxib xxiib xxiiib xxivb xxvb xxvib xxviib xxviiib xxixb xxxb xxxib xxxiib 1b 2b 3b 4b 5b 6b 7b 8b 9b 10b 11b 12b 13b 14b 15b 16b 17b 18b 19b 20b 21b 22b 23b 24b 25b 26b 27b 28b 29b 30b 31b 32b 33b 34b 35b 36b 37b 38b 39b 40b 41b 42b 43b 44b 45b 46b 47b 48b 49b 50b 51b 52b 53b 54b 55b 56b 57b 58b 59b 60b 61b 62b 63b 64b 65b 66b 67b 68b 69b 70b 71b 72b 73b 74b 75b 76b 77b 78b 79b 80b 81b 82b 83b 84b 85b 86b 87b 88b 89b 90b 91b 92b 93b 94b 95b 96b 97b 98b 99b 100b 101b 102b 103b 104b 105b 106b 107b 108b 109b 110b 111b 112b 113b 114b 115b 116b 117b 118b 119b 120b 121b 122b 123b 124b 125b 126b 127b 128b 129b 130b 131b 132b 133b 134b 135b 136b 137b 138b 139b 140b 141b 142b 143b 144b 145b 146b 147b 148b 149b 150b 151b 152b 153b 154b 155b 156b 157b 158b 159b 160b 161b 162b 163b 164b 165b 166b 167b 168b 169b 170b 171b 172b 173b 174b 175b 176b 177b 178b 179b 180b 181b 182b 183b 184b 185b 186b 187b 188b 189b 190b 191b 192b 193b 194b 195b 196b 197b 198b 199b 200b 201b 202b 203b 204b 205b 206b 207b 208b 209b 210b 211b 212b 213b 214b 215b 216b 217b 218b 219b 220b 221b 222b 223b 224b 225b 226b 227b 228b 229b 230b 231b 232b 233b 234b 235b 236b 237b 238b 239b 240b 241b 242b 243b 247b