Resultados25 letters/passages
gregory_great · c. 597 · score 0.02
Gregory to all bishops of Sicily. Word has come of an imminent barbarian threat against Sicily. In response, I direct all bishops throughout the island to lead their communities in two weeks of litanies [solemn processions with prayer and fasting — a standard response to public danger in Gregory's church]. This is not …
gregory_great · c. 590 · score 0.02
My dear Leander — you of all people will understand what I am about to say: this office is a burden beyond what any man can rightly be expected to carry. The cares of it press on me daily, and the infirmities of my body, which never leave me, make the load heavier than I can describe. I long for the contemplative life …
gregory_great · c. 598 · score 0.02
The bearer of this letter is Theodosius, who serves as abbot of the monastery founded in earlier times by the late patrician Liberius. The monastery is known to us and its work is valued. I commend Theodosius to your goodwill and ask that you extend to him whatever protection and assistance his mission requires. A mona …
gregory_great · c. 600 · score 0.02
The bearer of this letter is Candidus the abbot, a man of God whom I commend to your care and hospitality. He carries with him relics which I am sending for the benefit of your community, and I ask you to receive both him and these sacred gifts with all due reverence. Sardinia is far from Rome in miles but not in our p …
gregory_great · c. 603 · score 0.02
Where the quality of offenses provokes canonical severity against them, we must not postpone correcting what needs correction, lest by dissimulation we appear to give strength to wicked acts, which it is fitting that we cut away with the sickle of discipline. Since therefore it has come to us that the monks of the mona …
gregory_great · c. 603 · score 0.02
Come to Rome as soon as you can. I need to speak with you directly about matters that cannot be resolved through correspondence. Make whatever arrangements are necessary for your monastery in your absence and set out without delay. I would not summon you away from your community without reason — the urgency is real.
gregory_great · c. 599 · score 0.01
The bearer of this letter is Fuscus, abbot of a monastery known to us, who has undertaken this journey in pursuit of his community's needs. I commend him and his monastery warmly to Your Fraternity. Please receive him with the hospitality his office deserves and assist him in whatever he requires. A bishop who supports …
gregory_great · c. 596 · score 0.01
Gregory to Fantinus, defender. The books and furnishings belonging to the monastery of the abbot Fuscus have been improperly taken or withheld. You are to ensure their restoration. A monastery's books are not merely property; they are the intellectual and spiritual heritage of the community. Their loss or withholding d …
gregory_great · c. 601 · score 0.01
From the estate of the late deacon Servideus, you are to distribute the following: ten horses are to go to the monastery, and four horses are to go to Luminosa, the handmaid of God. These are the dispositions I have determined from the estate's assets, and they are to be carried out precisely as I have specified. Docum …
gregory_great · c. 594 · score 0.01
Gregory to Secundinus. A monastery is in danger of falling under the control or power of a layperson. I direct you to prevent this. The principle is fundamental: monasteries are ecclesiastical institutions, governed by the church's law and protected by the church's authority. They are not to be treated as private prope …
gregory_great · c. 597 · score 0.01
Pancratius, the bearer of the present letter, who asserts that he is a deacon, having presented himself at the thresholds of the apostles, is known to have hoped that we would specially commend him to Your Fraternity. He has also informed us that he is enrolled in the clerical office of your church. Wherefore, moved by …
gregory_great · c. 600 · score 0.01
The monks who carry this letter are engaged in the task of recovering servants who belong to the Roman monastery of Saint Demetrius. This is a legitimate exercise of the monastery's property rights, and I ask you to assist them in their efforts. Use your authority as defender to facilitate the process wherever you can …
gregory_great · c. 597 · score 0.01
Gregory to Hilarius, notary. A ship has been sent carrying supplies for the support of a monastery. I direct you to ensure that this ship is protected in all respects for the purpose for which it was sent. Monastic communities depend on reliable supply chains. When something is sent for their support, it must reach the …
gregory_great · c. 598 · score 0.01
You recall that we directed your experience in the present matter to act justly regarding the property which is said to have been granted by way of a gift to the monastery of Saints Marcus, Marcellinus, and Felicula, which is situated at Ravenna, since you know the case well. For this reason we have thought it necessar …
gregory_great · c. 601 · score 0.01
I am formally uniting the monastery of Crater with your monastery in Naples. The two communities are to function henceforth as one, under your governance and the Rule you have established. This union is intended to strengthen both communities and to bring greater stability to the smaller one. Exercise your authority ov …
gregory_great · c. 599 · score 0.01
Gregory to Cyprianus, deacon [rector of the papal patrimony in Sicily]. Our brother and fellow bishop Benenatus [bishop of Misenum] has informed us about a certain monk named Cicero, who on account of his transgressions — restore the aforementioned Cicero, together with his possessions which are said to have been depos …
gregory_great · c. 593 · score 0.01
Gregory to Maurus, abbot. The care of churches, which is evidently fixed upon priestly offices, compels us to be so solicitous that no fault of neglect may appear in them. Since we have learned that the church of Saint Pancratius, which had been committed to presbyters, frequently suffered neglect — so that people comi …
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. 602 · score 0.01
Gregory to Peter, subdeacon [Gregory's administrator in Sicily]. It has been brought to our attention that Marcellus of the Church of Barunitana [a diocese in Sicily], currently assigned to do penance in the monastery of Saint Adrian in the city of Palermo, is suffering not only from a lack of food but also enduring se …
gregory_great · c. 602 · score 0.01
The abbot Fortunatus has been unjustly burdened by accusations that, upon examination, do not hold. I ask you to look into this matter yourself and ensure that he is treated fairly. Men in religious life are particularly vulnerable to slander from those who resent their authority or their discipline. Don't let him be w …
gregory_great · c. 594 · score 0.01
Gregory to Marinianus, bishop of Ravenna. The abbot Claudius is returning to you after his time in Rome. I commend him to you warmly — and warmly is the right word, for he has distinguished himself during his time here by the quality of his conduct and the substance of what he has shown himself to be. A man who maintai …
gregory_great · c. 597 · score 0.01
We write to you concerning a matter that has been brought to our attention and demands immediate resolution. The bearer of this letter has petitioned us for justice, claiming that he was unjustly expelled from his monastery by the abbot without the hearing required by the Rule and the canons. We take such complaints se …
gregory_great · c. 591 · score 0.01
Gregory to Sabinus, subdeacon. The garden which belonged to Felicianus is to be transferred to the monastery of the handmaids of God. Make the necessary arrangements to accomplish this transfer properly and with appropriate documentation so that the monastery's right to the property is secure. The monastery in question …
gregory_great · c. 596 · score 0.01
Pastoral care constrains us to attend with solicitous consideration to churches deprived of priestly governance. And therefore, since your church has long been deprived of pastoral governance on account of the bodily infirmity of its own bishop — as you yourselves know — moved by your prayers, we have not ceased to adm …
gregory_great · c. 591 · score 0.01
Your glory has been eager to send me a copy of the bond of the magnificent Libertinus, so that you might show me with what obligation and intention the same Libertinus had entered upon the dignity of the prefecture. This bond, having been read to me carefully and explained by my glorious brother the patrician Palatinus …