Resultados25 letters/passages
gelasius_i · c. 493 · score 0.02
We had grieved until now at the barbarian raids devastating the provinces nearest to the city and the cruel tempest of wars, but as much as amid the very fervent dangers of recent calamities we have discovered, the devil has inflicted a more pernicious ruin upon the minds of Christians than hostile savagery has upon th …
pelagius_ii · c. 585 · score 0.02
May God therefore command him to come swiftly to our rescue, before the army of this most wicked nation — God forbid — is able to seize the places still held by the state. For "those who act wickedly shall be cut off, and the enemies" [Psalm 36:9] of the Lord shall perish. Send the priest back to us quickly, God willin …
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. 591 · score 0.02
Gregory to John, bishop of Velitrae. Given the present dangers [the Lombard invasions that were making many Italian towns unsafe], the episcopal seat of your church is to be transferred to a more secure location. This decision has been made for the safety of the clergy and people and for the continuation of proper epis …
gregory_great · c. 591 · score 0.02
Gregory to Jovinus, prefect of Illyricum. Word has reached me that a province which had been devastated by barbarian ravages is being restored and rebuilt under your governance. This news brings me genuine joy — not merely because the province is important, but because it suggests that the qualities of a good administr …
pelagius_ii · c. 585 · score 0.01
Pelagius, bishop, to his beloved son Gregory, deacon [Gregory was serving as the papal ambassador (apocrisiarius) at the imperial court in Constantinople]. We have taken care to inform you of everything necessary through Honoratus the notary, whom we have sent to you along with our brother and fellow bishop Sebastianus …
gregory_great · c. 594 · score 0.01
Since the city of Aufinum has been recovered, with God's help, and since great care must be taken for its church, especially since Hospoton, the master of soldiers in Italy, has sought our help in this matter, we have taken care to send this present letter to your fraternity so that you may go there as visitor. You mus …
gregory_great · c. 604 · score 0.01
The work of bringing the Barbaricini to the faith is one of the projects closest to my heart, and Bonifacius has been doing important work among them. I want you to support him — practically, administratively, in whatever ways you can. This is difficult mission territory and those working there need the backing of the …
gregory_great · c. 591 · score 0.01
Book II, Letter 3 To Velox, Magister Militum [a senior military commander]. Gregory to Velox. We informed Your Glory some time ago that soldiers were ready to be sent to your area. However, since your letter warned us that the enemy had assembled and was marching toward us, we held them back. Now it seems beneficial to …
gregory_great · c. 592 · score 0.01
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 0.01
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 0.01
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 …
leo_great · c. 445 · score 0.01
In my sincere desire -- shared by the bishops who are with me -- that you, most Christian and revered emperor, should above all things please God, to whom the prayers of the whole Church are poured out in one voice for your reign, I offer you this counsel. I fear that if we keep silent on so great a matter, we shall fa …
innocent_i · c. 416 · score 0.01
Pope Innocent I to Florentinus, Bishop of Tibur. Divine Scripture cries out not once but many times that the boundaries established by the fathers are not to be transferred. It is wrong for one person to seize what another has always possessed. Innocent writes to Florentinus because someone has intruded into a foreign …
hormisdas · c. 518 · score 0.01
On this point we suspect you are forgetful of our instruction: for we said that, with the occupiers excluded, those of whom we speak should return to their own churches, so that the others may be ordained elsewhere, if they are indeed of the right faith. Regarding the persons of the Scythian monks, the illustrious Just …
hormisdas · c. 516 · score 0.01
Having solemnly offered the libellus, we report that we have admitted the one offering it to our communion. We commend Paulinus, defender of the Roman church, and we urge that you not leave anything undisposed through haste for your return, because all things are better arranged with the passage of time and with the he …
simplicius_pope · c. 476 · score 0.01
Simplicius, bishop, to his most beloved brother Acacius. 1. From the letter of your love, which you directed to us through our son Epiphanius, a deacon of proven faith, you set forth at greater length what the most religious men, our sons the priests and archimandrites, together with the monks, had previously written t …
simplicius_pope · c. 480 · score 0.01
Simplicius, bishop, to the Emperor Zeno. 1. I received with joy the letters of your piety concerning the church of Antioch, always worthy of veneration, by which we found that with your innate zeal for the Catholic religion, after the defense of the faith which preserves and guards you, the audacity of impiety and the …
gregory_great · c. 603 · score 0.01
Gregory to Phocas Augustus. It gives us joy to consider, with rejoicing and deep thanksgiving, what praises we owe Almighty God now that the yoke of sorrow has been lifted and we have come to times of freedom under the imperial authority of Your Benign Piety. That Your Serenity has not found a deacon of the Apostolic S …
gregory_great · c. 593 · score 0.01
Gregory to Victor and Columbus, Bishops of Africa. We know from our own experience in this life how a disease, if neglected at its onset, gains strength. If it were met by skilled physicians at the start, it would be stopped before the far greater harm that comes from attending to it too late. Reason compels us, then, …
gregory_great · c. 595 · score 0.01
Gregory to Hospiton, leader of the Barbaricini. I have been pleased to learn that you, among all the Barbaricini leaders, worship the true God while the rest remain devoted to stocks and stones. I give thanks to Almighty God for this, and I urge you to hold firm to the faith you have received. Show your neighbors by wo …
hormisdas · c. 518 · score 0.01
It befits us to stand with feet firmly planted: we shall profit amid our adversaries by our own goods, if we are not entangled in the errors of others; for whoever is unmoved when pushed proves the strong vigor of his own virtue. Where are the stings of varied temptation not found? What cunning deceptions, veiled with …
hormisdas · c. 519 · score 0.01
Upon reading the letters of your love, through which the madness of the enemies of God was revealed and the persistent fury of the faithless was painfully set forth — who, while with a revived evil spirit they hate the Lord, impiously persecute his members — as far as recognizing your constancy, I blessed God, who guar …
leo_great · c. 460 · score 0.01
Leo, the bishop, to Neo, bishop of Ravenna — greeting. I. Those taken captive in infancy who cannot remember or bring witnesses of their baptism must not be denied this sacrament. We have indeed frequently, with the Spirit of God guiding us, strengthened the brethren's hearts when they were wavering on the slippery gro …