Resultados25 letters/passages
gregory_great · c. 590 · score 0.02
And yet even this is not enough; but something besides is said to be exacted according to a custom of many years. This practice we altogether detest, and desire it to be utterly extirpated from the patrimony. But, whether in this or in other minute imposts, let your Experience consider what is paid too much per pound, …
gregory_great · c. 596 · score 0.02
These things having been ordained and granted by us, study in the governing of your community to show yourself so earnest and attentive in all respects that the malice of the evil one may find nothing there that can be corrupted. All these provisions, set out in this document of injunctions, we decree to be observed, u …
gregory_great · c. 603 · score 0.02
… rejoicing, we who are glad that the kindness of Your Piety has ascended to the imperial throne. "Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad" (Psalm 96:11). Let the whole people of the republic, so long and so grievously afflicted, grow cheerful at your generous deeds. Let the proud minds of enemies be brought …
gregory_great · c. 603 · score 0.02
… urdens of long duration have been lifted from our necks, and the gentle yoke of imperial authority has returned, one that subjects are glad to bear. Let glory be given to the Creator of all by the choirs of angels on high. Let thanksgiving be offered by men on earth. For the whole republic, which has endured so many wo …
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. 590 · score 0.02
I want you to correct whatever has been done in this way without delay. Slaves taken into church possession without trial should be returned before any trial, so that if the Church has a legitimate claim, the current possessors may then be dispossessed through proper legal proceedings. Correct all this permanently. You …
gregory_great · c. 594 · score 0.01
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 0.01
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. 596 · score 0.01
Gregory to the Emperor Maurice. Almighty God, who has made your Piety the guardian of the Church's peace, preserves you by means of the very faith which you preserve through unity among priests; and when you humbly submit your heart to the yoke of heavenly loving-kindness, it comes about through heavenly grace that you …
gregory_great · c. 590 · score 0.01
But lest also the leases [i.e. by the Church to the farmers] be adjusted according to the sum of the payments due. We desire you to receive no more from the estates of the Church on account of the store-houses and stores beyond what is customary; but let your own stores which we have ordered to be procured be procured …
gregory_great · c. 596 · score 0.01
Gregory to Respecta, Abbess of Marseilles in Gaul. The desire expressed in a devout petition ought to be fulfilled by a matching result, so that the benefit asked for may be validly obtained and sincere devotion may shine forth with deserved praise. Accordingly, for the monastery consecrated to the honor of Saint Cassi …
gregory_great · c. 590 · score 0.01
He did not say "after they had been raised up" but "while they were being raised up" -- because all corrupt leaders fall inwardly even while they appear to rise outwardly through the support of worldly position. Their very exaltation is their downfall: relying on false glory, they are emptied of true glory. As it also …
gregory_great · c. 590 · score 0.01
For my son the servant of God, Diaconus, has already found such as displeased him; but he had not liberty to change them. We will, then, that, saving excepted cibaria of small value , nothing else beyond the just weights be exacted from the husbandmen of the Church. Further, we have ascertained that the first charge of …
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 the Emperor Mauricius. In you, most Christian of rulers, the uncorrupted soundness of faith shines like a beam from heaven. All know that Your Serenity embraces with fervor and wholehearted devotion the pure profession of faith in which, by God's favor, you are strong. I have therefore thought it essential t …
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. 591 · score 0.01
Gregory to Antoninus, Subdeacon. Honoratus, archdeacon of the Church of Salona, petitioned my predecessor of holy memory asking not to be forcibly promoted by his bishop, against his will and contrary to custom, to a higher order. [The subsequent proceedings follow the same account given in the letter to the bishops of …
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. 591 · score 0.01
… o 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 express in frequency of …
gregory_great · c. 592 · score 0.01
Gregory to Italica, Patrician. We have received your letter, which is full of warmth, and we rejoice to hear that Your Excellency is well. The sincerity of our own heart is such that fatherly affection prevents us from suspecting any hidden ill-will beneath its pleasant surface. May Almighty God bring it about that, as …
gregory_great · c. 594 · score 0.01
Gregory to Childebert, King of the Franks. Your Excellency's letter has delighted me greatly, testifying as it does that you are careful, with devout affection, of the honor and reverence owed to priests. You show all men that you are a faithful worshiper of God by loving His priests with proper veneration and hastenin …
gregory_great · c. 592 · score 0.01
Gregory to Theodorus, Physician. What benefits I enjoy from Almighty God and from my most serene lord the Emperor, my tongue cannot fully express. What return can I make for these blessings, except to love them sincerely? But, on account of my sins — by whose instigation or counsel I do not know — last year the Emperor …
gregory_great · c. 590 · score 0.01
Book I, Letter 36 To Peter the Subdeacon [Gregory's delegate in Sicily]. Gregory, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to Peter the Subdeacon. The instructions I gave you when you departed for Sicily must be studied carefully. The greatest attention must be paid to ensuring that bishops do not involve themselves in …