Resultados25 letters/passages
gregory_great · c. 594 · score 0.02
Gregory to the Empress Constantina. Almighty God, who holds your devout heart in His right hand, both protects us through you and stores up for you eternal rewards in return for your earthly deeds. I have learned from the letters of my representative, the deacon Sabinianus, how justly Your Serenity has taken up the cau …
gregory_great · c. 597 · score 0.02
Your appointment to oversee the poor table and the administration of the diaconia is now confirmed. This is a charge of the highest spiritual seriousness — the hungry who come to that table are the Lord Christ himself in disguise, and every loaf distributed in his name is an act of worship. I have granted you the neces …
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. 603 · score 0.02
… e 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 See resident at the court according to ancient custom is not due to any negligence on my part, but to the most pressing necessity. While all …
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. 594 · score 0.02
If the captivity of my land were not growing worse by the day, I would gladly pass over in silence the contempt and ridicule directed at me. But what afflicts me deeply is that my being branded a liar means Italy is dragged further under the Lombard yoke daily. While my reports go unbelieved, the enemy's strength grows …
gregory_great · c. 590 · score 0.01
We have learned that you have been placed in charge of the public patrimony, and we count on your diligence to serve justice honestly. But I must speak plainly: word has reached us that revenues properly belonging to the Roman Church are being concealed or diverted. This cannot be permitted. I urge you in the strongest …
gregory_great · c. 600 · score 0.01
Gregory to Romanus, our defender in Sicily. It has been reported to us that our most reverend brother Bishop Basilius is entangling himself in lawsuits as if he were a common layman, wasting his time attending the civil courts. Since this conduct both demeans the man himself and undermines the reverence owed to priests …
gregory_great · c. 592 · score 0.01
We recall that your Magnificence, during the time you were here in the city of Rome, learned that Bonifatius, a former accountant, had by his established testament left a certain portion of his inheritance to the hospice situated at the church of the blessed Peter, prince of the apostles. And since we said we would exe …
gregory_great · c. 594 · score 0.01
I should also inform you that I have received a letter from the most devout Emperor asking me to be at peace with my brother and fellow bishop John of Constantinople. I wish to be at peace with everyone -- and I am. But when John, in his arrogance, assumes the new and unprecedented title of Universal Bishop, effectivel …
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. 591 · score 0.01
Book II, Letter 29 To Maurilius and Vitalianus, Magistri Militum [senior military commanders defending central Italy]. Gregory to Maurilius and Vitalianus. On receiving Your Glory's letters, we gave thanks to God for your safety and greatly rejoiced at your careful preparations. What you requested was immediately made …
gregory_great · c. 591 · score 0.01
Gregory to Importunus, bishop of Atella. We believe your fraternity willingly embraces things that are wisely arranged. And since we have learned that the church of Holy Mary at Campiso, situated in your diocese, is without a priest, we have appointed the bearer of this letter, the presbyter Dominicus, to preside over …
gregory_great · c. 592 · score 0.01
Book III, Letter 31 To Romanus, Patrician and Exarch [the Emperor's supreme representative] of Italy [based in Ravenna]. Gregory to Romanus, Patrician and Exarch of Italy. We believe Your Excellency is already aware of the death of Laurentius, bishop of the church of Milan [one of the most important bishoprics in Italy …
gregory_great · c. 603 · score 0.01
Gregory to Senator, Priest and Abbot of a hospice. [This letter follows the same form as Gregory's privilege letters to the monastery and hospice at Autun, founded at the request of Queen Brunichild and King Theoderic.] When the hearts of Catholic kings are so inflamed by divine grace that they demand of their own acco …
gregory_great · c. 603 · score 0.01
Gregory to Lupo, Priest and Abbot. [This letter is a copy of the same privilege letter (see Letter 9 to Thalassia) adapted for the abbot Lupo's institution, granting the same protections and immunities established at the request of Queen Brunichild and King Theoderic for the religious foundations at Autun.] When the he …
gregory_great · c. 599 · score 0.01
Gregory to Brunichild, Queen of the Franks. When governing a kingdom, valor needs justice and power needs equity — neither can stand without the other. How greatly your care for these virtues shines is made plain enough by the fact that you govern so many peoples so commendably. Who, then, knowing this, could doubt the …
gregory_great · c. 591 · score 0.01
Book II, Letter 36 To Peter, Subdeacon of Sicily. Gregory to Peter. We have seen fit to bring to the attention of your Experience certain matters that require correction. We have learned that on some estates, the custom of exacting labor services [corvee] from the tenants beyond what is established by long tradition ha …
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. 595 · score 0.01
Gregory to Brunichild, Queen of the Franks. The praiseworthy and God-pleasing goodness of your Excellency is made clear both by your governance of your kingdom and by the education of your son. You have not only preserved intact for him the glory of earthly things with provident care, but have also attended to the rewa …
gregory_great · c. 592 · score 0.01
Gregorius, the former prefect, is a man who has served well in high office and who now turns toward the service of God and the Church. He is known to us and is deserving of every assistance. I commend him warmly to Your Fraternity and ask that you receive him with the honor his service warrants. Whatever he requires wi …
gregory_great · c. 596 · score 0.01
And Paul the Apostle urges: "Making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:3). And again: "Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14). This peace you will truly have with us when you turn away from the pride of a prof …
gregory_great · c. 603 · score 0.01
Gregory to Thalassia, Abbess. When the hearts of Catholic kings are so inflamed with ardent desire by divine grace that they ask of their own accord for the very things our pastoral admonitions should have urged them to seek, such requests should be granted with cheerful and joyful heart -- all the more because these a …
gregory_great · c. 599 · score 0.01
Gregory to Virgilius, Bishop of Arles. Pious purposes and laudable devotion always deserve the earnest support of priests. Careful attention must be paid to ensure that neither carelessness, neglect, nor overreach disturbs what has been established for the peace of monks and religious communities. What reason required …
gregory_great · c. 593 · score 0.01
Gregory to Maximianus, bishop of Syracuse. We have long since committed to your fraternity the authority to examine and correct ecclesiastical affairs in Sicily. The quarter portion of new revenues is to be distributed according to the canonical arrangement. A priest or other cleric is not to be made abbot unless he fi …