Resultados25 letters/passages
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. 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. 603 · score 0.02
Gregory to Brunichild, Queen of the Franks. Among your many excellencies, this stands above the rest: that amid the turbulent waves of this world, which so often confuse the minds of rulers, you turn your heart to the love of divine worship and to providing for the peace of sacred places -- as if no other care troubled …
gregory_great · c. 594 · score 0.02
Gregory to the Emperor Mauricius. The most serene commands of my Lords, while undertaking to correct me on certain points, have spared me in a way that is no kindness at all. By using the word "simplicity," you politely call me a fool. It is true that in Holy Scripture, when simplicity is spoken of favorably, it is alw …
gregory_great · c. 591 · score 0.02
Book II, Letter 30 To Maurilius and Vitalianus [senior military commanders]. Gregory to Maurilius and Vitalianus, Magistri Militum. We have communicated with Your Glory through our son Vitalianus, both by word and by letter, urging you to coordinate with him. On the eleventh day of January, Ariulph [the Lombard Duke of …
gregory_great · c. 595 · score 0.02
Gregory to Castorius, our notary at Ravenna. The distinguished lord Andreas presses me continually about restoring the use of the pallium in the Church of Ravenna according to ancient custom. You know that Bishop John wrote to me that it had been the custom for the bishops of that church to wear the pallium in the sole …
gregory_great · c. 595 · score 0.01
See that you act without negligence, and that no one corrupts your faithfulness and devotion in this matter — your zeal I know. Be thorough, but do it in such a way that the aforesaid church is not diminished contrary to justice, but retains the usage that existed before the time of Bishop John. Moreover, to reach a sa …
gregory_great · c. 592 · score 0.01
Book III, Letter 9 To Antoninus, Subdeacon [Gregory's administrator in Dalmatia]. Gregory to Antoninus. It has come to our ears that Florentius, bishop of the city of Epidaurus [a town on the Dalmatian coast], after first having his property seized, has been driven from his church. If this is true, it is a serious inju …
gregory_great · c. 595 · score 0.01
Gregory to Castorius, our notary at Ravenna. When Florentinus, deacon of the Church of Ravenna, came to negotiate with us on behalf of our most reverend brother and fellow bishop Marinianus regarding the use of the pallium, we asked him what the ancient custom had been. He replied that the bishop of Ravenna wore the pa …
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. 604 · score 0.01
Marcellinus, a man of excellent standing who bears this letter, is traveling to your city and has need of such assistance as your position allows you to provide. I commend him to you with confidence in your goodwill. His business concerns Maximus of Salona, whose reconciliation with this see is ongoing, and your knowle …
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
Gregory to Victor, bishop of Palermo. Reports have reached me that Jews in your diocese are being troubled and harassed in matters that are lawfully permitted to them. I direct you to stop this. The principle I am asserting is this: Jews are not to be forced to convert, nor are they to be harassed, nor are their lawful …
gregory_great · c. 599 · score 0.01
Gregory to Agilulph, King of the Lombards. Your Excellency, we give thanks that you heard our petition and concluded a peace that benefits both sides -- just as we trusted you would. I greatly commend your prudence and goodness. In choosing peace, you have shown that you love God, who is its author. If peace had not be …
gregory_great · c. 593 · score 0.01
Gregory to Zabardas, Duke of Sardinia. From the letters of my brother and fellow bishop Felix, and of the servant of God Cyriacus, we have learned of your Glory's fine qualities. We give great thanks to Almighty God that Sardinia has such a duke — one who knows how to fulfill his duty to the state in earthly matters wh …
gregory_great · c. 600 · score 0.01
Gregory to Innocent, Prefect of Africa. The eloquence of your Eminence, seasoned with the honey of the heart, has so infused its warmth into my innermost soul and drawn me toward it with affection that your words are a pleasure to read and your deeds a pleasure to hear about. This is no empty flattery -- a man accompli …
gregory_great · c. 599 · score 0.01
Gregory to Theodelinda, Queen of the Lombards. Your Excellency, how earnestly and kindly you worked for the conclusion of peace -- as is your way -- we have learned from our son, the abbot Probus. I expected nothing less from your Christianity than that you would devote your full energy and goodness to the cause of pea …
gregory_great · c. 590 · score 0.01
When I try to examine these requirements one by one, I feel the weight of every single one. [Gregory here summarizes passages from his own Pastoral Rule on the duties of a bishop — covering the need for purity of thought, leadership by example, wisdom about when to speak and when to stay silent, and the delicate balanc …
gregory_great · c. 590 · score 0.01
Book I, Letter 25 To John, Bishop of Constantinople, and the Other Patriarchs [the five senior bishops of the Christian world]. Gregory to John of Constantinople, Eulogius of Alexandria, Gregory of Antioch, John of Jerusalem, and Anastasius, ex-Patriarch of Antioch. An identical letter to each. When I reflect on how I …
gregory_great · c. 604 · score 0.01
Gregory to Queen Theodelinda of the Lombards. The letters you sent us from Genoa have made us share in your joy. By the favor of Almighty God, a son has been given to you -- and, as is greatly to your Excellency's credit, he has been received into the fellowship of the Catholic faith [through baptism]. Nothing less was …
gregory_great · c. 594 · score 0.01
Gregory to Theotistus. The priest John has been examined by a properly constituted council on the charge of heresy and has been found innocent. The council's judgment is clear and properly rendered. I direct you to protect John against any further harassment from those who brought the original charge or from anyone els …
gregory_great · c. 590 · score 0.01
I receive and venerate the four great Councils exactly as I do the four Gospels: The Council of Nicaea [325 AD], which overthrew the teaching of Arius [who denied that Christ is fully God]. The Council of Constantinople [381 AD], which refuted the errors of Eunomius and Macedonius [who denied the full divinity of the H …
gregory_great · c. 598 · score 0.01
Gregory to Smaragdus, exarch. The bishop Firminus has returned from the Istrian schism to the unity of the Catholic church. This is a matter for genuine rejoicing, and it is precisely what the church has been working toward through years of patient engagement with those who separated themselves over the Three Chapters …
gregory_great · c. 596 · score 0.01
Gregory to Fortunatus, Bishop of Fanum. Just as it is reprehensible and punishable for anyone to sell consecrated vessels except in cases approved by law and the sacred canons, so it is not a matter for reproach or penalty if they are disposed of for the compassionate purpose of ransoming captives. Since therefore we f …
gregory_great · c. 599 · score 0.01
Gregory to Rechared, King of the Visigoths. I cannot express in words, most excellent son, how much I am delighted by your work and your life. When we hear of the remarkable miracle God has accomplished in our own time -- that the entire Gothic nation, through Your Excellency, has been brought from the error of Arian h …