Resultados25 letters/passages
gregory_great · c. 600 · score 0.02
Gregory to Maximus, Bishop of Salona. When our mutual friend the priest Veteranus arrived in Rome, he found me so weakened by gout that I could not personally answer your Fraternity's letters. Regarding the Slavic nation [the Slavs, who were pressing into the Balkans and threatening the Dalmatian coast], from which you …
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. 592 · score 0.02
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 0.02
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. 597 · score 0.02
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. 603 · score 0.02
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
As for what we ourselves are suffering from the swords of the Lombards in the daily plundering, wounding, and killing of our citizens — we prefer not to speak of it, lest in recounting our own sorrows we should only add to yours through the sympathy you bear toward us. Furthermore, a short while ago we sent to Sabinian …
gregory_great · c. 590 · score 0.01
Book I, Letter 43 To Leander, Bishop of Hispalis [Seville, in Visigothic Spain; Leander was Gregory's close friend from their time together in Constantinople]. Gregory to Leander. I would have liked to reply to your letters with my full attention, but I am so worn down by the labor of pastoral responsibility that I am …
gregory_great · c. 601 · score 0.01
Gregory to Barbara and Antonina. Most beloved daughters, I received your Glory's letter -- written more in tears than in words -- and I am touched by no less sorrow than you feel for your father's illness. The law of charity makes your sadness my own. But even in the direst circumstances, we must not lose trust in the …
gregory_great · c. 591 · score 0.01
Book II, Letter 42 To 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 expr …
gregory_great · c. 590 · score 0.01
The church of Populonia has been left destitute of priestly ministry — there is no one there to give penance to the dying, no one to baptize the newly born. This state of affairs must be remedied immediately. I am therefore directing you to visit Populonia, assess the condition of the community, and ordain whatever pri …
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. 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
All that was foretold has come to pass. The king of pride draws near, and -- terrible to say -- an army of priests is being marshaled for him, since those appointed as leaders in humility have enlisted under the banner of pride. But in this matter, even if I said nothing at all, the power of Him who personally and uniq …
gregory_great · c. 596 · score 0.01
Take heed therefore, and quickly wipe away the ground of offense from your heart, so that Almighty God may be able to receive the sacrifice of your offering as acceptable. Furthermore, while you have truly and accurately professed the right faith, we find that among those whom you have held to be condemned by the most …
gregory_great · c. 599 · score 0.01
The letter of your Fraternity has reached us, and we have read its contents with the consideration they deserve. You report that the Lombards in your region have been showing greater willingness to hear the preaching of the Gospel, and that some have even sought baptism. This news fills us with joy, for nothing is more …
gregory_great · c. 590 · score 0.01
Your description of his character in your letter has made me love him, though I have never met him. But since you know the tricks of the ancient enemy [the devil], who wages fiercer war against those who have conquered him, watch over Reccared all the more carefully. May he follow through on what he has well begun, nev …
gregory_great · c. 595 · score 0.01
The deaths of your brother bishops Paulinus of Tauriana and his colleague have placed additional burdens on those of you who remain, and I write both to acknowledge this and to address it. The communities left without their bishops cannot wait indefinitely for replacements. I ask you, Venerius and Stephanus, to take pa …
gregory_great · c. 603 · score 0.01
The affliction of your fraternity, which we have learned you have suffered from the loss of your people, has cast so great a cause of grief upon us that, since charity has made us two into one, our heart feels itself burned especially in your tribulations. But in this sorrow the holiness of your patience has greatly co …
gregory_great · c. 591 · score 0.01
Book II, Letter 41 To Leander, Bishop of Seville [Gregory's close friend in Visigothic Spain]. Gregory to Leander. The bearers of this letter, returning to Spain, have given me a welcome opportunity to write to you. Though I am heavily burdened with the weight of my pastoral duties and frequently crushed by the concern …
gregory_great · c. 591 · score 0.01
Book II, Letter 48 To Columbus, Bishop [a bishop in Numidia, North Africa]. Gregory to Columbus. It is well known, most dear brother in Christ, that the ancient enemy [the devil], who by cunning persuasion deposed the first man from paradise, never ceases to sow discord among the faithful. When he cannot destroy faith …
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 …
gregory_great · c. 590 · score 0.01
Gregory to Paul, Scholasticus. When outsiders congratulate me on the dignity of my office, I pay it little mind. But when you do the same, it genuinely pains me -- because you know what I truly wanted, and yet you treat this as a promotion. The real promotion for me would have been achieving what I longed for: the peac …
gregory_great · c. 599 · score 0.01
Gregory to Januarius, Bishop of Cagliari. I knew before your Brotherhood's letter reached me what our enemies had accomplished in Sardinia. Having long feared this would happen, I now grieve with you over what I foresaw coming to pass. Had attention been paid to what I wrote both to our most excellent son Gennadius and …