Resultados25 letters/passages
gregory_great · c. 600 · score 0.02
Gregory to Maximus, Bishop of Salona. When our mutual friend the priest Veteranus arrived in Rome, he found me so weakened by gout that I could not personally answer your Fraternity's letters. Regarding the Slavic nation [the Slavs, who were pressing into the Balkans and threatening the Dalmatian coast], from which you …
gregory_great · c. 594 · score 0.02
Gregory to the Emperor Mauricius. Our most devout and God-appointed sovereign, among his many pressing cares, also watches over the preservation of peace among the clergy with genuine spiritual concern -- rightly and wisely recognizing that no one can govern earthly affairs well unless he knows how to handle the things …
gregory_great · c. 594 · score 0.02
Whatever it was my duty to do in humility, I have not neglected. But if I am disregarded in my reproof, I will have no choice but to bring the matter before the Church. May Almighty God show you, brother, how great a love for you constrains me in saying these things, and how deeply I grieve in this matter -- not agains …
gregory_great · c. 592 · score 0.02
Book III, Letter 29 To the Priests and Clergy of Milan [one of the most important cities in northern Italy, close to Lombard-controlled territory]. Gregory to the priests, deacons, and clergy of the church of Milan. We have received your letter, which, though it speaks of your sufferings and difficulties, also reveals …
gregory_great · c. 594 · score 0.02
Before him, pagan rulers who knew nothing of the true God but worshipped idols of wood and stone still paid the highest respect to their priests. How much more fitting, then, that a Christian emperor should honor the priests of the true God, when pagan rulers knew how to honor priests who served gods of wood and stone? …
gregory_great · c. 594 · score 0.02
Gregory to the Empress Constantina. Knowing how my most serene Lady thinks about the heavenly country and the welfare of her soul, I believe I would be greatly at fault if I kept silent about matters that ought to be brought to her attention for the fear of God. I learned that there are many natives on the island of Sa …
gregory_great · c. 597 · score 0.01
Praise be to God for the news you have sent me. The pacification of the territory near the Slavs is a relief beyond measure — the pastoral losses we have sustained in those regions from their incursions have been grievous, and every settlement that returns to peace is a cause for genuine rejoicing. I am also glad to he …
gregory_great · c. 590 · score 0.01
Even if no reason for writing to your Excellency presented itself, we ought nevertheless out of fatherly charity to be solicitous for your well-being, so that what we desire to hear about you we may learn through frequent messengers. Moreover, it has come to our attention that Blandus, bishop of the city of Horta, has …
gregory_great · c. 590 · score 0.01
Book I, Letter 43 To Leander, Bishop of Hispalis [Seville, in Visigothic Spain; Leander was Gregory's close friend from their time together in Constantinople]. Gregory to Leander. I would have liked to reply to your letters with my full attention, but I am so worn down by the labor of pastoral responsibility that I am …
gregory_great · c. 603 · score 0.01
Gregory to Victor and Columbus, bishops of Africa, in identical letters. The more the order of the Church kept blamelessly fills our heart with joy, the more its disruption imposes the burden of sorrow, when the recklessness of depravity attempts to overthrow discipline, to dissolve what was once laudably established, …
gregory_great · c. 601 · score 0.01
Gregory to Barbara and Antonina. Most beloved daughters, I received your Glory's letter -- written more in tears than in words -- and I am touched by no less sorrow than you feel for your father's illness. The law of charity makes your sadness my own. But even in the direst circumstances, we must not lose trust in the …
gregory_great · c. 604 · score 0.01
In the name of the Lord. In the reign of the emperor, in the given indiction and on the given day: he upon whom the duty of adjudication is imposed must conduct himself with a pure and undefiled conscience in all things, lest in the very matters he judges for others he himself incur the retribution of the eternal exami …
gregory_great · c. 591 · score 0.01
Book II, Letter 42 To John, Bishop of Ravenna [the second most important city in Italy, seat of the imperial Exarch]. Gregory to John. The very fact that I write less often than I should shows how overwhelmed I am by the burdens of this place. But let Your Fraternity take the will for the deed, since what I cannot expr …
gregory_great · c. 593 · score 0.01
Gregory to Sabinianus, Deacon. You know what has happened in the case of the usurper Maximus. After our most serene Lord the Emperor had sent orders that he should not be ordained, he broke out into an even higher pitch of arrogance. The men of the distinguished patrician Romanus accepted bribes from him and arranged h …
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. 594 · score 0.01
On my own account I was not at all disturbed. My conscience bears me witness: I was prepared to endure any hardship, so long as I emerged from it all with my soul intact. But I have grieved deeply for the distinguished men Gregory the prefect and Castorius the military commander, who neglected nothing that could be don …
gregory_great · c. 594 · score 0.01
All that was foretold has come to pass. The king of pride draws near, and -- terrible to say -- an army of priests is being marshaled for him, since those appointed as leaders in humility have enlisted under the banner of pride. But in this matter, even if I said nothing at all, the power of Him who personally and uniq …
gregory_great · c. 590 · score 0.01
Book I, Letter 52 To Symmachus the Defensor [a church legal advocate serving in Corsica]. Gregory to Symmachus. My son, the deacon Boniface, has told me that you wrote to say a monastery built by Labina, a religious woman, is now ready for monks to be settled in it. I commend your initiative. However, we want a differe …
gregory_great · c. 596 · score 0.01
Take heed therefore, and quickly wipe away the ground of offense from your heart, so that Almighty God may be able to receive the sacrifice of your offering as acceptable. 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 …
gregory_great · c. 595 · score 0.01
Gregory to Marinianus, bishop of Ravenna. The bearers of this letter, coming to us from the regions of Istria, desired, with the Lord's help, to be received into the unity of the Church. We received them with affection in praise of their desire, and after giving them an exhortation concerning the conversion they had ac …
gregory_great · c. 599 · score 0.01
Gregory to Romanus, Defender. It has come to our attention that the barbers in Sicily are, with brazen presumption, calling themselves defenders of the Church — and that they not only serve no useful purpose for Church affairs but actually use this stolen title as cover for committing numerous irregularities. We theref …
gregory_great · c. 593 · score 0.01
Gregory to the Nobles and Proprietors in Sardinia. I have learned from the report of my brother and fellow bishop Felix, and my son the servant of God Cyriacus, that nearly all of you have peasants on your estates who are given to idolatry. This has caused me great sorrow, because I know that the guilt of subordinates …
gregory_great · c. 593 · score 0.01
Gregory to the clergy, order, and people resident at Hortona. Learning of the death of your bishop, it was our care to solemnly delegate the visitation of your bereaved church to our brother and fellow bishop Barbarus. To him we have given instructions that he should not allow anything from the revenues, furnishings, o …
gregory_great · c. 590 · score 0.01
Your description of his character in your letter has made me love him, though I have never met him. But since you know the tricks of the ancient enemy [the devil], who wages fiercer war against those who have conquered him, watch over Reccared all the more carefully. May he follow through on what he has well begun, nev …
gregory_great · c. 595 · score 0.01
Gregory to Candidus, priest, departing for the patrimony in Gaul. As you proceed with the help of our Lord God Jesus Christ to take charge of the Church estates in Gaul, I want you to use whatever funds you receive to purchase clothing for the poor and English boys of about seventeen or eighteen years of age who may be …