Resultados25 letters/passages
gregory_great · c. 595 · score 0.02
… dvised connivance that neither is the fear of God maintained there, nor are the imperial commands carried out. They add that in the aforesaid province, through the bribes of the Donatists, the Catholic faith is being openly sold. The distinguished Gennadius, on the other hand, has in turn lodged a complaint against one …
gregory_great · c. 601 · score 0.02
My brother Maximus, I must address something that has caused repeated difficulties: your representatives have been presenting themselves at this see and speaking on your behalf in ways that I can no longer simply accept at face value. There have been too many instances where what they claimed to represent was not what …
gregory_great · c. 594 · score 0.02
Gregory to the Emperor Mauricius. The generosity of my Lords, which has always mercifully sustained your servants, has shone forth here in so generous a supply that the needs of all who are weak and suffering have been relieved by your bounty. For this we all pray with tears to Almighty God -- who moved your Clemency t …
gregory_great · c. 590 · score 0.02
I want you to correct whatever has been done in this way without delay. Slaves taken into church possession without trial should be returned before any trial, so that if the Church has a legitimate claim, the current possessors may then be dispossessed through proper legal proceedings. Correct all this permanently. You …
gregory_great · c. 603 · score 0.02
Castorius, who serves as chartularius, is well known to me as a man of integrity and competence. He has business to conduct in your area, and I ask you to extend him whatever assistance he requires. Smooth the way for him where you can — men who serve the Church faithfully in administrative roles deserve the support of …
gregory_great · c. 591 · score 0.02
The value of the farmland produce matters little to me if fraud is mixed in. If it comes to my knowledge that you are lax about this, you will be held responsible. Furthermore, I have learned that the Jews in Catania have been complaining that they were expelled by force from the site of their synagogue, which they had …
gregory_great · c. 593 · score 0.01
I am directing you to see to it that Centegus and his wife Flora receive the ten pounds of gold that have been withheld from them. I have looked into the matter and I am satisfied that this payment is properly owed. Delay in rendering just payment is itself an injustice, and I will not have the Church's administrators …
gregory_great · c. 594 · score 0.01
Gregory to Vincomalus, Guardian. For the benefit of the Church, it is our will and decision that -- provided you are not bound by any obligation of public service, have not been a cleric of any other city, and face no canonical objection -- you shall assume the office of Guardian of the Church. In this role you are to …
gregory_great · c. 590 · score 0.01
I need your help in compelling Stephen, who holds episcopal office, to submit himself to the judgment he has been evading. A bishop who flees from canonical examination is not only failing in his own duty — he is making a mockery of the system of ecclesiastical accountability that exists to protect the faithful. Use wh …
gregory_great · c. 604 · score 0.01
Gregory to John and Fortunatus, bishops, and Anthemius, subdeacon. What we ought willingly to bestow upon our sons, we should not deny them when they ask. And therefore, since our glorious son Gregorius, the former prefect, asks that the properties he has there, and his men, be commended to your fraternity, we direct y …
gregory_great · c. 594 · score 0.01
Was it not the case -- as you well know -- that the prelates of this Apostolic See, which by God's providence I now serve, were offered the title of "universal" by the venerable Council of Chalcedon? Yet not one of them ever accepted it or claimed this ill-advised name, lest by seizing the glory of singularity by virtu …
gregory_great · c. 590 · score 0.01
One more thing: I've urged our gracious lords [the Emperor and Empress] as forcefully as I can to allow you to come here to Rome — to the threshold of Peter, prince of the apostles — with your full dignity restored, and to live with me for as long as God wills. For however long I am given to be near you, we could ease …
gregory_great · c. 590 · score 0.01
Give this matter your close attention, because if there is any shortfall in what is delivered, it will mean the death not of one person alone, but of the entire populace. As for the management of the Church patrimony in Sicily, I have sent -- under God guidance, I believe -- a man you will find yourself in complete agr …
gregory_great · c. 595 · score 0.01
Gregory to Sabinianus, bishop of Gallipoli. Reports have reached me that the people of Gallipoli [a port city on the Adriatic coast of Apulia] are being oppressed by excessive demands and burdens. As their bishop, you have both the authority and the obligation to protect them from this. Make clear to whoever is imposin …
gregory_great · c. 590 · score 0.01
Maurentius has petitioned regarding the possession he has been seeking, and I want you to know that I have heard his request and will give it proper consideration. I will not make any hasty determination in a matter of property, which has a way of proving more complicated on examination than it first appears. Tell Maur …
gregory_great · c. 601 · score 0.01
Gregory to Vitus. If you are bound by no obligation or liability of bodily service, and have not been a cleric of any other city, and if there is no canonical impediment in your case, then it is my will and decision, for the benefit of the Church, that you receive the office of Guardian of the Church. You are to carry …
gregory_great · c. 594 · score 0.01
Guard against the wicked suggestions of evil men. Flee from every instigation to give offense. Offenses must come, to be sure, but woe to the one through whom they come. Because of this abominable title of pride, the Church is torn apart and the hearts of all the brothers are provoked to offense. Has it escaped your me …
gregory_great · c. 591 · score 0.01
Book II, Letter 33 To Peter, Subdeacon of Sicily. Gregory to Peter. Since, God granting it, we are pursuing the interests of the blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles, we should exercise the greatest care that no injustice be done and that the patrimony of the poor suffer no damage from those who should be protecting i …
gregory_great · c. 590 · score 0.01
Book I, Letter 27 To Anastasius, Archbishop of Corinth [a major city in Greece]. Gregory to Anastasius. The more God's judgments exceed our understanding, the more they ought to inspire something like awe. When reason can't follow, the only honest response is to lower your head and go where the will of our Ruler leads. …
gregory_great · c. 592 · score 0.01
Gregory to Italica, Patrician. We have received your letter, which is full of warmth, and we rejoice to hear that Your Excellency is well. The sincerity of our own heart is such that fatherly affection prevents us from suspecting any hidden ill-will beneath its pleasant surface. May Almighty God bring it about that, as …
gregory_great · c. 604 · score 0.01
… nerable memory, Metropolitan of Nicopolis -- acting also with the support of an imperial order assigning the case to him -- is known to have issued a formal ruling that the settlement of Cassiopus should remain under the jurisdiction of your Church as it always has been, we approve the terms of that ruling. We confirm …
gregory_great · c. 591 · score 0.01
When the hearts of Catholic kings are so kindled with ardent desire by divine grace going before them toward those things which they ought to be urged to by pontifical admonitions, and these things are voluntarily sought by them, they should be granted with so much the more eager and joyful spirit, inasmuch as those ve …
gregory_great · c. 601 · score 0.01
I find myself obliged to repeat what I said to you when you first took up the episcopal office, since it seems my earlier words have not borne the fruit I hoped for. The administration of your church — its property, its clergy, its poor — must be conducted with rigor and accountability. Laxity in the bishop leads to la …
gregory_great · c. 592 · score 0.01
Gregory to Theodorus, Physician. What benefits I enjoy from Almighty God and from my most serene lord the Emperor, my tongue cannot fully express. What return can I make for these blessings, except to love them sincerely? But, on account of my sins — by whose instigation or counsel I do not know — last year the Emperor …
gregory_great · c. 590 · score 0.01
Book I, Letter 36 To Peter the Subdeacon [Gregory's delegate in Sicily]. Gregory, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to Peter the Subdeacon. The instructions I gave you when you departed for Sicily must be studied carefully. The greatest attention must be paid to ensuring that bishops do not involve themselves in …