Deferred Martyrdom

Neque enim in tribus pueris minor fuit martyrii dignitas, quia mortem frustrata de camino ignis incolumes exierunt: aut non consummatus Daniel exstitit in suis laudibus, quia qui leonibus missus fuerat ad praedam, protectus a Domino, vixit ad gloriam. In confessoribus Christi dilata martyria non meritum confessionis minuunt, sed magnalia divinae protectionis ostendunt. Repraesentatum videmus in vobis, quod apud regem fortes atque illustres pueri praedicaverunt, ipsos quidem paratos esse ardere flammis, ne diis eius servirent, aut imaginem quam fecerat adorarent; Deum tamen quem colebant, quemque et nos colimus, potentem esse ut eos de camino illis eximeret, et de regis manibus ac de poenis praesentibus liberaret. Quod invenimus in confessionis vestrae fide, et in Domini circa vos protectione nunc gestum; ut cum vos parati fueritis et prompti omne subire supplicium, Dominus tamen vos poenae subtraheret, et Ecclesiae reservaret. Regredientibus vobis breviata non est in episcopo confessionis suae dignitas, sed magis crevit sacerdotalis auctoritas: ut altari Dei assistat antistes, qui ad confessionis arma sumenda et facienda martyria non verbis plebem, sed factis cohortetur; et imminente Antichristo paret ad praelium milites non solo sermonis et vocis incitamento, sed fidei et virtutis exemplo. Sanctus Cyprianus, Epistola LVIII, Ad Luciam Papam Source: Migne PL 3.973a-974a

The value of martyrdom was not the less for the three youths because their deaths were frustrated when they came forth unharmed from the fiery furnace, nor was Daniel unworthy of praise because when he was sent to the lions as prey, he was protected by the Lord and lived on to glory. 1 Among the confessors of Christ, martyrdoms which are deferred do not diminish the merits of confession, but they do show the greatness of Divine protection. We see represented in you what the brave and illustrious youths announced before the king, that they indeed were prepared to burn in the flames, so that they might not serve his gods, nor worship the image he had made, and that the God whom they worshipped, and whom we also worship, was able to free them from the furnace, and to deliver them from the hands of the king, and from imminent sufferings. Which we now find performed in the faith of your confession, and in the Lord's protection over you, so that while you were prepared and ready to suffer every punishment, yet the Lord delivered you and preserved you for the Church. There has been no reduction of the dignity of the confession of a bishop because of your return, but rather the priestly authority has grown, so that such a man who serves at the altar of God and exhorts the people to take up the arms of confession and to submit to martyrdom when the Antichrist is near, prepares the soldiers for battle not only by the exhortation of his words and voice but by the example of his faith and courage. Saint Cyprian of Carthage, from Epistle 58, To Pope Lucius 1 Dan 3-4

Correcting The Fallen

Praeterea monachorum quosdam atque monacharum, abjecto proposito sanctitatis, in tantam potestatis demersos esse lasciviam, ut prius clanculo, velut sub monasteriorum praetextu, illicita ac sacrilega se contagione miscuerint, postea vero in abruptum conscientiae desperatione perducti de illicitis complexibus libere filios procrearint, quod et publicae leges, et ecclesiastica jura condemnant: has igitur impudicas detestabilesque personas a monasteriorum coetu, ecclesiarumque conventibus eliminandas esse mandamus, quatenus retrusae in suis ergastulis tantum facinus continua lamentatione deflentes, purificatorio possint poenitudinis igne decoquere, ut eis vel ad mortem saltem, solius misericordiae intuitu per communionis gratiam possit indulgentia  subvenire. Pape Siricius Epistola Decretalis Papae Siricii Himerio Episcopo Tarraconensi Source: Migne PL 13.1137b-c

Moreover those certain monks and nuns, who having cast off the way of holiness, plunged into such great wantonness that first in secret, as it were under the veil of the monasteries, they embroiled themselves in forbidden and sacrilegious affairs, but later, led on swiftly by abandonment of conscience, they freely produced children by illicit intercourse, which both civil laws and ecclesiastical rules condemn, these shameless and detestable persons, therefore, we command should be banished from the community of monasteries and the congregations of churches, so that having been thrust away into their imprisonment, bewailing with constant lamentation their crimes, they can roast in the purifying fire of repentance, that at least at death, out of consideration of mercy alone, forgiveness through the grace of communion can come to their aid. Pope Siricius, from the Letter to Bishop Himerius of Tarragona

Sharing In Gifts

Ὡς μακάρια καὶ θαυμαστὰ τὰ δῶρα τοῦ θεοῦ, ἀγαπητοί.  Ζωὴ ἐν ἀθανασίᾳ, λαμπρότης ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ, ἀλήθεια ἐν παρρησίᾳ, πίστις ἐν πεποιθήσει, ἐγκράτεια ἐν ἁγιασμῷ· καὶ ταῦτα ὑπέπιπτεν πάντα ὑπὸ τὴν διάνοιαν ἡμῶν. Τίνα οὖν ἄρα ἐστὶν τὰ ἑτοιμαζόμενα τοῖς ὑπομένουσιν; Ὁ δημιουργὸς καὶ πατὴρ τῶν αἰώνων ὁ πανάγιος αὐτὸς γινώσκει τὴν ποσότητα καὶ τὴν καλλονὴν αὐτῶν. Ἡμεῖς οὖν ἀγωνισώμεθα εὑρεθῆναι ἐν τῷ ἀριθμῷ τῶν ὑπομενόντων, ὅπως μεταλάβωμεν τῶν ἐπηγγελμένων δωρεῶν. Πῶς δὲ ἔσται τοῦτο, ἀγαπητοί; Ἐὰν ἐστηριγμένη ᾖ ἡ διάνοια ἡμῶν πιστῶς πρὸς τὸν θεόν, ἐὰν ἐκζητῶμεν τὰ εὐάρεστα καὶ εὐπρόσδεκτα αὐτῷ, ἐὰν ἐπιτελέσωμεν τὰ ἀνήκοντα τῇ ἀμώμῳ βουλήσει αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀκολουθήσωμεν τῇ ὁδῷ τῆς ἀληθείας, ἀπορρίψαντες ἀφ’ ἑαυτῶν πᾶσαν ἀδικίαν καὶ πονηρίαν, πλεονεξίαν, ἔρεις, κακοηθείας τε καὶ δόλους, ψιθυρισμούς τε καὶ καταλαλιάς, θεοστυγίαν, ὑπερηφανίαν τε καὶ ἀλαζονείαν, κενοδοξίαν τε καὶ ἀφιλοξενίαν. Ταῦτα γὰρ οἱ πράσσοντες στυγητοὶ τῷ θεῷ ὑπάρχουσιν· οὐ μόνον δὲ οἱ πράσσοντες αὐτά, ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ συνευδοκοῦντες αὐτοῖς. Λέγει γὰρ ἡ γραφή· Τῷ δὲ ἁμαρτωλῷ εἶπεν ὁ θεός· Ἱνατί σὺ διηγῇ τὰ δικαιώματά μου, καὶ ἀναλαμβάνεις τὴν διαθήκην μου ἐπὶ στόματός σου;  Σὺ δὲ ἐμίσησας παιδείαν καὶ ἐξέβαλες τοὺς λόγους μου εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω. εἰ ἐθεώρεις κλέπτην, συνέτρεχες αὐτῷ, καὶ μετὰ μοιχῶν τὴν μερίδα σου ἐτίθεις. Τὸ στόμα σου ἐπλεόνασεν κακίαν, καὶ ἡ γλῶσσα σου περιέπλεκεν δολιότητα. Καθήμενος κατὰ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου κατελάλεις, καὶ κατὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ τῆς μητρός σου ἐτίθεις σκάνδαλον. Ταῦτα ἐποίησας, καὶ ἐσίγησα· ὑπέλαβες, ἄνομε, ὅτι ἔσομαί σοι ὅμοιος. Ἐλέγξω σε καὶ παραστήσω σε κατὰ προσωπόν σου. Σύνετε δὴ ταῦτα, οἱ ἐπιλανθανόμενοι τοῦ θεοῦ, μήποτε ἁρπάσῃ ὡς λέων, καὶ μὴ ᾖ ὁ ῥυόμενος.  θυσία αἰνέσεως δοξάσει με, καὶ ἐκεῖ ὁδός, ᾗ δείξω αὐτῷ τὸ σωτήριον τοῦ θεοῦ. Αὕτη ἡ ὁδός, ἀγαπητοί, ἐν ᾗ εὕρομεν τὸ σωτήριον ἡμῶν, Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, τὸν ἀρχιερέα τῶν προσφορῶν ἡμῶν, τὸν προστάτην καὶ βοηθὸν τῆς ἀσθενείας ἡμῶν. Διὰ τούτου ἀτενίζομεν εἰς τὰ ὕψη τῶν οὐρανῶν, διὰ τούτου ἐνοπτριζόμεθα τὴν ἄμωμον καὶ ὑπερτάτην ὄψιν αὐτοῦ, διὰ τούτου ἠνεῴχθησαν ἡμῶν οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ τῆς καρδίας, διὰ τούτου ἡ ἀσύνετος καὶ ἐσκοτωμένη διάνοια ἡμῶν ἀναθάλλει εἰς τὸ φῶς Ἅγιος Κλήμης Ῥώμης, Ἐπιστολή πρὸς Κορινθίους, Source: Migne PG 1 277a-281a

How blessed and wonderful are the gifts of God, beloved. Life in immortality, splendour in righteousness, truth in openness, faith in assurance, self-command in holiness, and all these things fall under our awareness. What then of those things prepared for those who endure? The Creator and Father of all worlds, the Most Holy, He alone knows their amount and beauty. Let us therefore strive to be found among the number of those who endure, that we may be partakers in the gifts promised. But how will this be, beloved? If our understanding is fixed in faith toward God; if we seek out the things which are pleasing and acceptable to Him; if we fulfill the things which are in harmony with His blameless will and follow the way of truth, casting off from us all unrighteousness and wickedness, overreaching, strife, both evil conduct and deceit, both gossiping and backbiting, all hatred of God, pride and boasting, vainglory and ambition. For they who do these things are hateful to God; and not only those who do them, but also those who approve of them. For Scripture says, 'But to the sinner God said: Why do you declare my statutes, and take my covenant into your mouth? You hated instruction, and you cast my words behind you. If you saw a thief, you ran along with him, and you placed your portion with adulterers. Your mouth has abounded with wickedness, and your tongue has contrived deceit. Seated you spoke evil against your brother; you slandered your own mother's son. These things you have done, and I was silent; you thought, lawless one, that I should be like you. But I will reprove you, and set yourself before your face. Consider  these things, you who forget God, lest He rend you like a lion and there be no one to deliver you. A sacrifice of praise will glorify Me, and there is the way by which I will show to him the salvation of God.' 1 This is the way, beloved, in which we find our Saviour, Jesus Christ, the High Priest of all our offerings, the defender and helper of our weakness. By Him we gaze up at the heights of heaven; by Him we see, as in a mirror, His immaculate and perfect face; by Him the eyes of our hearts are opened; by Him our foolish and darkened understanding shoots up afresh toward the light. Saint Clement of Rome, from the Letter to the Corinthians 1 Ps 49.16-23

The Unworldly

Nemo tam sanctum est ut non sanctior, nemo tam devotus ut non debeat esse devotior. Quis enim in hujus vitae constitutus incerto, aut immunis a tentatione, aut liber inveniatur a culpa? Quis est qui nihil virtutis sibi adjici, aut qui nihil vitii sibi optet auferri? cum et adversa neceant et secunda corrumpant, nec minoris sit perienti carere desideratis quam abundare concessis. Insidiae sunt in divitiarum amplitudine, insidiae in pauperiatis angustiis. Illae elevant ad superbiam, hae incitant ad querelam. Tentat sanitas, tentat infirmitas, dum et illa materia est negligentiae, et haec cause tristitiae. Laqueus est in securitate, laquens est in timore; nec interest utrum animus, qui terreno tenetir affecti, gaudiis occupetur an curis, cum per morbus sit vel sub vana delectatione languescere, vel sub anxia sollicitduine laborare. Impletur itaque per omnia sententia Veritatis qua discimus angustam esse et arduam viam quae ducit ad vitam; et cum latitudo itineris ad mortem trahentis multis frequentetur agminibus, in salutis semitis paucorum intrantium sunt rara vestigia. Unde autem populosior est via laeva quam dextera, nisi quia ad mundana gaudia et corporalia bona multitudo proclivis est? Et quamvis caducum incertumque sit quod cupitur, libentius tamen suscipitur labour pro desiderio voluptatis quam pro amore virtutis. Ita cum innumeri sint qui visibilia concupiscant, vix inveniuntur qui temporalibus aeterna praeponant. Et ideo, dicente beato apostolo Paulo: Quae videntur temporalia sunt, quae autem non videntur aeterna sunt; latet quodammodo et in abscondito est virtutum via, quoniam spe salvi facti summus, et fides vera id super omnia diligit, quod nullo sensu carnis attingit. Magni est ergo operis et laboris mobilitatem cordis ab omnibus continere peccatis, et cum undique innumerae voluptatum illecebrae blandiantur, ad nulla contagia vigorem animi relaxare. Quis picem tangit, et non inquinatur ab ea? Quis non infirmatur in carne? Quis non sordescit in pulvere? Quis postremo est tantae puritatis, ut iis non polluatur sine quibus vita non ducitur? Jubet enim per Apostolum doctrina divina, ut qui habent uxores, tamquam non habentes sint: et qui flent, tamquam non flentes; et qui gaudent, tamquam non gaudentes; et qui emunt, tamquam non possidentes; et qui utuntur hoc mundo, tamquam non utantur: praeterit enim figura mundi hujus. Beata igitur mens quae peregrinationis suae tempora casta sobrietate transcurrit, et in iis per quae necesse est eam ambulare non remanent, ut hospita magis quam domina terrenorum, nec affectibus desit humanis, et promissionibus sit innixa divinis. Sanctus Leo Magnus, Sermo XLIX Source: Migne PL 54.301c- 303a

No one is so holy that he might not to be holier, no one so devout that he might not be more devout. Who is there set in the uncertainty of this life who can be found immune to temptation, or free from fault? Who would not wish for any addition to his virtue, or that from his vices anything be taken away? Since adversity does us harm and success corrupts us, and it is not less perilous to lack what we want then to have it in abundance. There is a trap in the fullness of riches, a trap in the straits of poverty. The one lifts us up in pride, the other incites us to complain. Health tries us, sickness tries us, one being the cause of negligence the other of grief. There is a trap in security, a trap in fear, and it matters not whether the soul given over to earthly thoughts is occupied with pleasures or cares, for it is equally unhealthy to languish amid vain delights, as to labour under the worries of anxiety. And thus is fulfilled in every sense that judgement of the Truth by which we learn that it is the narrow and difficult way that leads to life, 1 and that while the wide way that leads to death is filled with many crowds, the steps are few of those who walk on the way of safety. And why is the left road more populated than the right, save that the multitude is inclined to worldly joys and corporeal goods? And although that which is desired is transient and uncertain, yet men more willingly take up toil for the desire for pleasure than for love of virtue. Thus while those who desire things visible are innumerable, those who prefer the eternal to the temporal are scarcely found. And, therefore, with the blessed Apostle Paul saying, 'the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal,' 2 the path of virtue is in a manner hidden and secret because 'by hope we were saved,' 3 and true faith loves above all things that which it attains to without any knowledge of the flesh. A great work and toil it is then to keep our shifting heart from all sin, and, with the numberless allurements of pleasure to lure it away everywhere, not to let the strength of the soul give way to any influence. Who 'touches pitch, and is not defiled thereby?' 4 Who is not weakened by the flesh? Who is not dirtied by dust? Who, finally, is so pure as not to be polluted by those things without which one cannot live? For the Divine teaching commands by the Apostle that 'they who have wives should be as though they had none, and those who weep should be as though they do not weep, and those that rejoice should be as though they do not rejoice, and those that buy should be as though they do not possess, and those that make use of this world should be as though they do not; for the fashion of this world passes away.' 5 Blessed, therefore, is the mind that passes the time of its pilgrimage in chaste sobriety and tarries not among the things through which it must walk, so that, as a guest rather than the owner of its earthly abode, it may not lack human affections and yet rest on Divine promises.' Pope Leo the Great, from Sermon 49 1 Mt 7.14 2 2 Cor 4.18 3 Rom 8.24 4 Sirach 13.1  5 1 Cor 7.29-31

Judgement and John

In omne enim quod de nobis dicitur, semper taciti recurrere ad mentem debemus, interiorem testem et judicem quaerere. Quid enim prodest si omnes laudent cum conscientia accuset? Aut quid poterit obesse si omnes nobis derogent, et conscientia sola nos defendat? Beatus ergo Job inter linguas derogantium inflexa mente persistens, quia in terra se impugnari falsis sermonibus vidit, in coelo testem quaesivit. Hinc Isaias ait: Popule meus, qui beatificant te, ipsi te decipiunt, et viam gressuum tuorum dissipant. Qui videlicet populus ne verba suae laudis attenderet, et in culpis altius periret, statim dicitur quem aspiciat, cujus judicium pertimescat, cum subditur: Stat ad judicandum Dominus, stat ad judicandos populos. Ac si aperte diceretur: Judicia humana cur sequeris, qui stare super te coelestem judicem scis. Hinc est quod Joannem Baptistam Veritas esse arundinem vento agitatam negat, dicens: Quid existis videre in desertum? Arundinem vento agitatam? Quod quia negando dixerit, non affirmando, subjuncta verba testantur. Ait enim: Sed quid existis videre in deserto? Hominem mollibus vestitum? Ecce qui mollibus vestiuntur in domibus regum sunt. Arundo autem vento agitata modo flatibus erigitur, modo flatibus inclinatur. Omnis autem infirmus animus, qui vel derogatione dejicitur, vel laudibus exaltatur, arundo vento agitata est. Quod Joannes non erat, quia inflexibilem mentis verticem inter laudes hominum et derogationes tenebat. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, In Ezechielem Prophetam, Liber Primus, Homilia IX

For in everything that is said about us, we should always turn in silence to the mind, and seek interior witness and judgement. What does it profit us if everyone praises us and our conscience accuses us? Or why should it trouble us if everyone disparages us and our conscience alone defends us? Thus the blessed Job endured with inflexible mind among the tongues of detractors, because seeing that on earth he was assaulted with false words, in heaven he sought a witness. Whence Isaiah says, 'O My people, those who bless you, they deceive you, and they destroy the way you walk.' 1 And that no one attend to the words of praise of the people and in higher blame perish, instantly it is said what one should consider, and of whom the judgement fear, when it is then added: 'The Lord stands to give judgement, He stands to judge the people.' 2  Which may be more openly expressed: 'Why do you follow human judgement when you know that heavenly judgement stands over you?' Which is why the Truth speaks of John the Baptist as a reed refusing to be  shaken by the wind, saying, 'What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed shaken by the wind?' 3 That He said it that it be denied, not affirmed, the following words bear witness, for He then said, 'But what did you go out to see in the desert? A man in soft vestments? Behold, those who dress in softness are in the palaces of kings.' A reed shaken by the wind is as a wave rising and falling. Every weak soul, that is, one that is either dejected by disparagement or exalted by praise, is a reed shaken by the wind. John was not that, but with inflexible height of mind he held himself firm among the praise and detraction of men. Saint Gregory the Great, On the Prophet Ezekiel, Book 1, Homily 9 1 Is 3.12 2 Is 3.13 3 Mt 11.7

Fear and Preaching

Tu ergo, fili hominis, ne timeas eos, neque sermones eorum metuas, quoniam increduli, et subversores sunt tecum, et cum scorpionibus habitas.   Patet ad quam perversos in praedicationem mittitur, qui ne timeat admonetur. Et quia pravi quique bona sibi loquentibus alia iniqua faciunt, et adhuc alia minantur, propter illa quae faciunt dicitur: Ne timeas eos; et propter hoc quod minatur, adjungitur: Neque sermones eorum metuas. Vel certe quia reprobi et mala bonis ingerunt, et eorum semper actibus derogant, propheta missus admonetur, ne eorum vel crudelitatem metuat, vel verba pertimescat. In hoc itaque quod dicitur: Ne timeas, prophetae datur auctoritas praedicationis. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, In Ezechielem Prophetam, Liber Primus, Homilia IX

'You therefore, son of man, do not fear them, nor be afraid of their words, that they are incredulous and that they dispute with you, and that you dwell with scorpions.' 1 It is obvious to what perverse folk he is sent to preach, he who is admonished lest he fear. And because the depraved speak well of themselves while acting wickedly, until they are admonished by others, on account of those things which they do, it is said, 'Do not fear them,' and then after this it is added: 'Nor be afraid of their words.'  Certainly because the reprobate cast evil at the good and ever their acts they denigrate, and so the Prophet who is sent is warned lest he be afraid of their savagery or take fright at their words. In this then which is said: 'Do not fear,' is given authority to the Prophet to preach. Saint Gregory the Great, On the Prophet Ezekiel, Book 1, from Homily 9 1 Ez 2.6

Estranged Bishops

Julius Danio, Flacillo, Narcisso, Eusebio, Mari, Macedonio, Theodoro et sociis eorum, qui Antiochia nobis scripsere, dilectis fratribus in Domino salutem. Legi litteras a presbyteris meis Elpidio et Philoxeno mihi allatas, miratusque sum, cum nos ex dilectione et veritatis conscientia scripserimus, a vobis contentiose, nec ut decebat, rescriptum esse. Superbia enim et arrogantia scribentium per epistolam sese prodebat: haec autem a Christiana fide aliena sunt. Decebat enim, quae cum dilectione scripta erant, parem cum dilectione, et non cum contentione responsionem obtinere. An non caritatis indicum est, presbyteros misesse qui cum dolentibus condolerent, et eos qui scripserant adhortarentur ut venirent, quo quam primum omnia tandem componi ac recte constitui valerent, nec diutius fratres nostri vexarentur, nec vos quidam criminarentur? Sed nescio cur sic affici vobis placuerit, ut nos induxeritis ad suspicandum, quae vos verba nos honorandi causa dicere videbamini, haec ipsa cum quadam dissimulatione et irrisione dixisse. Presbyteri namque qui missi sunt, quos cum gaudio rediisse oportabat, contra moesti rediere ob ea quae illic geri conspexerant. Ego vero, postquam litteras legi, cum multa mecum reputassem, epistolam apud me retinui, sperans vestrum saltem aliquos esse venturos, nec epistola opus fore, ne, si illa manifesta fieret, multos hic contristaret. Quandoquidem autem, nullo adventiente, necesse fuit illam proferre, fateor vobis, omnes admiratione capti, vix induci potuerunt ut crederent res hujusmodi a vobis esse scriptas: contentionis enim magis, quam charitatis epistola specimen prae se ferebat. Quod si eloquentiae quaerenda est, sed canones apostolici, ac studendum ut ne unus quidem ex pusillis qui in Ecclesia sunt scandalizentur. Expedit enim, secundum ecclesiasticam sententiam, molam asinariam suspendi a collo, et ita in mare demergi potius, quam vel unum ex pusillis scandalizare. Quod si aliquibus mutua quadam simultate exacerbatis, non enim talem omnium mentem fuisse dixerim, istiusmodi epistolam scribi placuit, decebat quidam vel omnino non offendi, vel solem non occidere super offensa; hanc certe eo progredi non oportuit, ut scripto declararetur. Sanctus Julius Papa, Epistola ad Antiochenos

Julius to Danius, Flacillus, Narcissus, Eusebius, Maris, Macedonius, Theodorus and their associates who wrote to us from Antioch, dear brothers, greetings in the Lord. Having read the words that my presbyters Elpidius and Philoxenus brought to me I wondered that while we wrote from love and care for truth from you we received an unfitting contentious reply. The pride and arrogance of the writers was revealed by the letter, things which are alien to the Christian faith. For it befits that when things are written with love that with equal love and with no contention they obtain reply. Was it not a sign of love to have sent presbyters to comfort those suffering, and to exhort  those who had written to me to come here that, above all, that which is yet settled might rightly be resolved, so that our brothers might no longer be troubled, and that you might escape further accusation? I do not know why it was pleasing to you to act so, that you led us to the suspicion that the words you used to honour us which we read, were said with a certain dissimulation and ridicule. For the presbyters sent, whom with joy should have returned, came back troubled on account of that which they had seen among you. I truly, after I read your words, pondered much to myself and kept the letter to myself, hoping that some at least would come from you, not such a letter, that if it were to be made public would be a cause of sorrow to many. Yet when no one came from you it was necessary to reveal it, and I confess to you, all were struck with astonishment, and they were scarcely able to be led to believe that something like this had been written by you, for brought before them it was more a token of contention than of love. If eloquence must be sought let attention be given to the Apostolic canons, lest any of the little ones in the church should be scandalized. For it profits more, according to the understanding of the Church, that the millstone of asses be hung from the neck and one be thrown into the sea than one of the little ones be scandalised. 1 But if such a letter was written because it pleased some who took offence at something, for I do not impute such a state of mind to all, it befits rather not to be offended at all, or not to let the sun set on one's offence; 2 certainly it is of no benefit to declare it in writing. Pope Julius I, from the Letter to the Antiochians 1 Mt 17.6 2 Ephes 4.26

A Pope Laments His State

Quadam die nimiis quorumdam saecularium tumultibus depressus, quibus in suis negotiis plerumque cogimur solvere etiam quod nos certum est non debere, secretum locum petii amicum moeroris, ubi omne quod de mea mihi occupatione displicebat, se patenter ostenderet, et cuncta quae infligere dolorem consueverant, congesta ante oculos licenter venirent. Ibi itaque cum afflictus valde et diu tacitus sederem, dilectissimus filius meus Petrus diaconus adfuit, mihi a primaevo juventutis flore amicitiis familiariter obstrictus, atque ad sacri verbi indagationem socius. Qui gravi excoqui cordis languore me intuens, ait: Nunquidnam novi tibi aliquid accidit, quod plus te solito moeror tenet? Cui, inquam: Moeror, Petre, quem quotidie patior, et semper mihi per usum vetus est, et semper per augmentum novus. Infelix quippe animus meus occupationis suae pulsatus vulnere, meminit qualis aliquando in monasterio fuit; quomodo ei labentia cuncta subter erant; quantum rebus omnibus quae volvuntur eminebat; quod nulla nisi coelestia cogitare consueverat; quod etiam retentus corpore, ipsa jam carnis claustra contemplatione transibat; quod mortem quoque, quae pene cunctis poena est, videlicet ut ingressum vitae et laboris sui praemium amabat At nunc ex occasione curae pastoralis saecularium hominum negotia patitur, et post tam pulchram quietis suae speciem, terreni actus pulvere foedatur. Cumque se pro condescensione multorum ad exteriora sparserit, etiam cum interiora appetit, ad haec procul dubio minor redit. Perpendo itaque quid tolero, perpendo quod amisi. Dumque intueor illud quod perdidi, fit hoc gravius quod porto. Ecce etenim nunc magni maris fluctibus quatior, atque in navi mentis tempestatis validae procellis illidor. Et cum prioris vitae recolo, quasi post tergum ductis oculis viso littore suspiro. Quodque adhuc gravius est, dum immensis fluctibus turbatus feror, vix jam portum videre valeo quem reliqui, quia et ita sunt casus mentis, ut prius quidem perdat bonum quod tenet, si tamen se perdidisse meminerit; cumque longius recesserit, etiam boni ipsius quod perdiderat obliviscatur; fitque ut post neque per memoriam videat, quod prius per actionem tenebat. Unde hoc agitur quod praemisi, quia cum navigamus longius, jam nec portum quietis quem reliquimus videmus. Nonnunquam vero in augmentum mei doloris adjungitur, quod quorumdam vita qui praesens saeculum tota mente reliquerunt, mihi ad memoriam revocatur. Quorum dum culmen aspicio, quantum ipse in infirmis jaceam agnosco; quorum plurimi Conditori suo in secretiori vita placuerunt, qui ne per humanos actus a novitate mentis veterascerent, eos omnipotens Deus hujus mundi laboribus noluit occupari Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, Dialogi, Liber I

One day being excessively wearied with the troubles of worldly affairs in which business we are often bound far more than we should be, I sought a secluded place fit for lamentation, where every one of my occupations that displeased me might openly show itself, and that all things that are accustomed to inflict sorrow might be gathered together and present before my eyes. And thus having sat there gravely afflicted for a long while, Peter, my dearest son and deacon, came, a man whom, from his younger years, I bound closely to me in friendship, and as a companion in the investigation of Sacred Scripture. He, marking me beset by weakness of heart, said, 'Have some tidings come to you that cause you to grieve more than you are accustomed? ' To which I said, 'O Peter, the grief which I suffer every day is ever old through use and ever new by daily increasing. For my unhappy soul, belaboured with worldly business, reminds me of how it was when I was in the monastery, and how then all fallen things were beneath it, as much as it stood above all transitory things, and that it thought on nothing but heavenly things, and though enclosed in a body in contemplation it passed beyond the enclosure of the flesh. And as for death, which almost to all is grief, that very same as an entrance into life and as a reward of its labours it loved. But now, on account of my pastoral cares, my soul suffers the affairs of worldly men, and after so beautiful a rest, it is defiled with the dust of worldly deeds. And when it does go forth at the demand of many others to exterior matters, its desire for interior things on its return has lessened. Thus I do consider what I suffer and consider what I have lost. And looking on what I have lost makes what I now bear more grievous. For behold now I am tossed by the waves of a great sea and the ship of my soul is struck by the storms of a terrible tempest. And so when I recall my former state of life, I sigh as if looking back on a forsaken shore. And what grieves me yet more is that while I am borne off by the great waves I can now scarce see the port I left, for such be the downfalls of our soul, that first it loses that goodness it had, yet remembering what it has lost, and then, carried away farther, it forgets the good it has lost and no longer holds in memory what it did do. And so it is, as I said, that sailing farther on, we no longer see the harbour of peace from whence we departed. Sometimes also increase is given to my sorrow by remembering the lives of certain folk who with their whole soul abandoned the present world, whose eminence beholding, I also recognise my own infirmities and falls, many of whom did in a retired life please their Creator, who lest by the business of men they wear out their souls, the almighty God was unwilling they be occupied with the labours of this world. Saint Gregory the Great, Dialogues, Book 1

Keeping Watch

Sed sciendum nobis est quia saepe, dum aliis rebus intendimus, fit ut alias negligamus; et ubi negligimus, ibi procul dubio oculum non habemus. Nam Pharisaeus ille qui ascenderat in templum orare, testante Evangelio, quid dixit agnovimus. Ait enim: Deus, gratias ago tibi. Recte autem gratias Deo agebat, a quo acceperat bona quae fecerat. Qui etiam subjungit: Quia non sum sicut caeteri hominum, raptores, injusti, adulteri, velut etiam hic Publicanus; jejuno bis in Sabbato, decimas do omnium quae possideo. Ecce ad exhibendam abstinentiam, ad impendendam misericordiam, ad referendas Deo gratias oculum Pharisaeus habuerat, sed ad humilitatis custodiam oculum non habebat. Et quid prodest quod contra hostium insidias pene tota civitas caute custoditur, si unum foramen apertum relinquitur, unde ab hostibus intretur? Quid ergo prodest custodia quae pene ubique circumponitur, quando inimicis tota civitas per neglectum loci unius aperitur? Pharisaeus autem qui jejunium exhibuit, decimas dedit, Deo gratias retulit, quasi pene per circuitum in suae civitatis custodia vigilavit. Sed quia unum in se foramen superbiae non attendit, ibi hostem pertulit, ubi per negligentiam oculum clausit. Quia ergo sanctorum mentes undique se circumspicientes invigilant, atque in omni suo opere pavoris et sollicitudinis oculum circumducunt, ne aut prava agant, aut recta quae praecepta sunt non agant, aut bonis actibus expletis, in suis cogitationibus intumescant, et tanto gravius offendant quanto justi videntur foris et occultius peccant, recte dicitur: Totum corpus eorum plenum oculis in circuitu. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, In Ezechielem Prophetam, Liber Primus, Homilia VII

But it should be known to us that often while we intend one thing we neglect another, and where we neglect there we do not have our eye. For that Pharisee who ascended to the temple to pray, we know what he said by Gospel's witness. He said, 'God, I give thanks to you.'  1 Rightly indeed did he give thanks to God from whom he received the goods he did. Then he said 'I am not like other men, thieves, unjust, adulterers, like even this tax collector, twice I fast on the Sabbath, I give tenth of all I possess.' Behold, an exhibition of abstinence and a presentation of mercy, to which the Pharisee had an eye to give thanks to God, but he did not attend to the guarding of humility. How does it benefit to carefully guard a city against all the assaults of the enemy, if one door overlooked is left open, through which the enemy may enter? How does it benefit to place a guard almost everywhere when all the city is open to the enemy because of one place neglected? The Pharisee displayed his fasting, he gave his tenth, he returned thanks to God, he watched almost the whole circuit of the city. But because there was one opening of pride to which he did not attend, there the enemy came in, there where the eye was closed by negligence. Therefore the minds of the saints keep watch everywhere, and in every work of theirs fear and care keeps the eye watchful, lest they act wickedly, or they do not act in accordance with right laws, or having done good deeds they become puffed up with their own thoughts, and so much more gravely they offend who seem righteous and are blind to their sins. Well it is said, 'Their bodies, all around, were full of eyes.' 2 Saint Gregory the Great, On the Prophet Ezekiel, Book 1, Homily 7 1 Lk 18.11 2 Ezek 1.18

Guarding the Faith

Domine victori Theodosio et triumphatori, semper Augusto filio, Galla Placidia, piissima et florens, perpetua Augusta et mater. Dum in ipso ingressu civitatis antiquae hanc curam habuissemus ut cultum beatissimo Petro apostolo redderemus, in ipso adorando altari martyris reverendissimus Leo episcopus, paullum se post orationem retinens, propter catholicam fidem apud nos deflevit, ipsum similiter summum apostolorum, quem nuper adieramus, testem objiciens, episcoporum multitduine circumseptus, quos ex innumerabilibus civitatibus Italiae pro principatu proprii loci seu dignitate collegit; et veribus permiscens lacrymas, ad communionem sui fletus nostros quoque gemitus provocavit. Non enim modicum detrimentum est ex his quae gesta sunt, ut fides, quae tantis temporibus regulariter custodia est a sacratissimo patre nostro Constantino, qui primus imperio splenduit Christianus, nuper turbata sit ad arbitrium unius hominis, qui in synodo Ephesinae civitatis odium et contentiones potius exercuisse narratur, militum praesentia et metu appetens Constantinopolitanae civitatis episcopum Flavianum, eo quod libellum ad apostolicam sedem miserit, et ad omnes episcopos harum partium, per eos qui directi fuerant in concilio a reverandissimo episcopo Romae, qui secundum definitiones Nicaeni concilii consueti sunt interesse, domine sacratissime fili, venerabilis imperator. Hac itaque gratia, tua mansuetudo tantis turbis resistens, veritatem fidei catholicae religionis immaculatam servari praecipiat: ut secundum formam et definitionem apostolicae sedis, quam etiam nos tamquam praecellentem similiter veneramur, in statu sacerdotii illaeso manente per omnia Flaviano, ad concilii et apostolicae sedis judicium transmittatur, in qua primus ille, qui coelestes claves dignus fuit accipere, principatum episcopatus ordinavit; quando scilicet decet nos huic maximae civitati, quae domina omnium est terrarum, in omnibus reverentiam conservare. Diligentius autem etiam in hoc providete, ne quod priscis temporibus nostra generatio custodivit, sub nos imminui videatur, et per praesens exemplum schismata generentur inter episcopos et sanctas Ecclesias. Sanctus Leo Magnus, Epistola LVI, Galla Placidia ad Theodosium

To the Lord Theodosius, victor and conqueror, an ever august son, Galla Placidia, most pious and prosperous, perpetual Augusta and mother.  When having arrived in the ancient city, and having had care to pay our devotion to the most blessed Apostle Peter, at the martyr's very altar, the most reverend Bishop Leo waiting behind a little after the service lamented over the Catholic Faith to us, and bringing forth as witness the chief of the Apostles himself, whom we had just approached, and surrounded by a multitude of bishops whom he had brought together from numerous cities of Italy by the eminence and dignity of his position, mixing tears with his words, he called on us to blend our moans with his weeping. For no slight harm has come from things done by which the Faith, so long guarded since the days of our most holy father Constantine, who was the first in supreme power to shine forth as a Christian, has been recently disturbed by the will of one man, who in the synod held at Ephesus 1 is said to have rather stirred up hate and contention, distressing by the presence and fear of soldiers Flavianus, the bishop of Constantinople, because he had sent an appeal to the Apostolic See, and to all the bishops of these parts by  those who had been sent to the Synod by the most reverend Bishop of Rome, who in accordance to the Canons of the Council of Nicaea have been accustomed attend in such a manner, most sacred Lord and Son and venerable Emperor. Because of this we pray your clemency to resist such disturbances, and to command that the immaculate truth of the Catholic Faith be preserved without spot, that according to the standard and decision of the Apostolic See, which we likewise revere as preeminent, Flavianus may remain uninjured in his priestly office, and the affair be referred to the Synod of the Apostolic See, which he who was worthy to receive the heavenly keys first arranged to have the greatest power; when certainly it becomes us to preserve the honour of this great city, which is the mistress of all the earth. Indeed let us be most diligent to provide for this, lest what in former times our people protected seem by us to be harmed, and that by present example schisms not be caused among bishops and holy churches. Pope Leo the Great, Letter 56, Galla Placidia to Theodosius 1 The Latrocinium of Ephesus

We Do Not Wish The Death Of Sinners

Adjectum est etiam, quosdam Christianos ad apostasiam, quod dici nefas est, transeuntes, et idolorum cultu ac sacrificiorum contaminatione profanatos, quos a Christi corpore et sanguine, quo dudum redempti fuerant renascendo, jubemus abscindi. Et si resipiscentes forte aliquando fuerint ad lamenta conversi, his, quandiu vivunt agenda poenitentia est, et in ultimo fine suo reconciliationis gratia tribuenda, quia, docente Domino, nolumus mortem peccatoris, sed tantum ut convertatur, et vivat. Papa Siricius, Epistola Himerio Episcopo Tarraconensi, Epistola Decretalis

It was also added that certain Christians, having passed over into apostasy, which is wicked just to say, are profaned by the worship of idols and the pollution of sacrifices, and these from the body and blood of Christ, by which formerly they were redeemed in new birth, we order  cut off. And if recognising their error at some point perhaps they turn to lament, they should then do penance as long as they live, and in their final moment the grace of reconciliation should be given, because, as the Lord teaches, we do not wish the death of a sinner, only that he be converted and live. Pope Siricius, Letter to Himerius Bishop of Tarraconensis, The Decretal

Times and Seasons

Quam accurate Sancta Scriptura facta describat. Intueri libet quomodo sacra eloquia in exordiis narrationum qualitates exprimant, terminosque causarum. Aliquando namque a positione loci, aliquando a positione corporis, aliquando a qualitate aeris, aliquando a qualitate temporis signant, quid de ventura actione subjiciant. A positione quippe locorum Divina Scriptura exprimit subsequentium merita finesque causarum, sicut de Israel dicit quia verba Dei in monte audire non potuit, sed praecepta in campestribus accepit: subsequentem nimirum infirmitatem populi indicans, qui ascendere ad summa non valuit, sed semetipsum in infimis neglecte vivendo laxavit. A positione corporis futura denuntiat, sicut in apostolorum Actibus Stephanus Jesum, qui a dextris virtutis Dei sedet, stantem se vidisse manifestat. Stare quippe adjuvantis est. Et recte stare cernitur, qui in bello certaminis opitulatur. A qualitate aeris res subsequens demonstratur, sicut evangelista, cum praedicante Domino, nullos tunc ex Judaea credituros diceret, praemisit dicens: Hiems autem erat. Scriptum namque est: Quoniam abundabit iniquitas, refrigescet charitas multorum. Idcirco ergo hiemis curavit tempus exprimere, ut inesse auditorum cordibus malitiae frigus indicaret. Hinc est quod de negaturo Petro praemittitur: Quia frigus erat, et stans ad prunas calefaciebat se. Jam namque intus a charitatis calore torpuerat, et ad amorem praesentis vitae, quasi ad persecutorum prunas infirmitate aestuante recalebat. A qualitate quoque temporis finis exprimitur actionis, sicut non rediturus ad veniam, ad traditionis perfidiam nocte Judas exiisse perhibetur, cum egrediente illo, ab evangelista dicitur: Erat autem nox. Hinc enim et iniquo diviti dicitur: Hac nocte repetent animam tuam abs te. Anima quippe, quae ad tenebras ducitur, non in die repeti, sed in nocte memoratur. Hinc est quod Salomon, qui sapientiam non perseveraturus accepit, in somnis hanc et nocte accepisse describitur. Hinc est quod angeli ad Abraham meridie veniunt; punituri autem Sodomam, ad eam vespere venisse memorantur. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, Moralia, sive Expositio in Job, Liber II

How carefully Sacred Scripture describes incidents. One should look closely at how the sacred eloquence in the beginning of its narrations details the qualities and limits of the issues. For at one time by location, at another by the position of the body, at another by the quality of the air, at another by the the time, it foreshadows what is to come. So then by location Divine Scripture sets forth the merits and ends of the events to follow, as where it says of Israel that they were not able to hear the words of God on the mountain but received the commandments on the plain, doubtless indicating the subsequent weakness of the people who could not ascend to the heights but who enervated themselves by careless living in lowest things. By the posture of the body it announces the future, as where in the Acts of the Apostles Stephen discloses that he saw Jesus who is placed at the right hand of the Power of God, in a standing posture,1 for standing is the posture of one in the act of rendering aid, and rightly is He discerned standing who gives aid in the struggle of the battle.  By the quality of the air the subsequent event is shown, as when the Evangelist said that none out of Judea were at that time to prove believers in our Lord's teaching, he prefaced it by saying, 'And it was winter.' For it is written, 'Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall grow cold.'  Therefore he took care to remark that it was the winter season in order to indicate that the frost of wickedness was in the hearts of the hearers. Thus it is that it is said before Peter denied the Lord that it was cold and Peter stood warming himself at the coals, for now inwardly the warmth of charity lessened but the love of this present life was warming, as though his weakness were heated by the coals of the persecutors. By the time also is the end of the act is set forth, as is said of Judas, who was never to be restored by pardon, that he went out at night to the treachery of his betrayal, where on his exit, the Evangelist says: 'And it was night.' And again it is declared to the iniquitous rich man: 'This night your soul be taken from you.' The soul which is taken to darkness is not demanded in the day but in the night.  Hence it is that Solomon, who received wisdom but was not to retain it, is said to have received it in dreams and in the night.  Hence it is that the Angels come to Abraham at midday, but when the go to punish Sodom they are recorded to have arrived at evening. Saint Gregory the Great, Commentary on Job, Book II  1 Acts 7.55

The Reproaches of the Lost

Quod ad nos attinet, conscientiae nostrae convenit, frater charissime, dare operam, ne quis culpa nostra de Ecclesia pereat. Si autem quis ultro et crimine suo perierit, et poenitentiam agere atque ad Ecclesiam redire noluerit, nos in die judicii inculpatos futuros, qui consulimus sanitati, illos in poenis remansuros, qui noluerint consilii nostri salubritate sanari. Nec movere nos debent convicia perditorum quominus a via recta et a certa regula non recedamus, quando et Apostolus instruat, dicens: 'Si hominibus placerem, Christi servus non essem.' Interest utrum quis homines promereri, an Deum cupiat. Si hominibus placetur, Dominus offenditur: si vero id enitimur et elaboramus ut possimus Deo placere, et convicia et maledicta debemus humana contemnere. Sanctus Cyprianus, Epistola Ad Cornelium Papam

It belongs to us, it befits our conscience, dearest brother, to labour that none should perish going out of the Church by our own fault; but if any one, of his own accord and by his own offence, should perish, and should be unwilling to repent and to return to the Church, then we who are anxious for their well-being will be blameless in the day of judgment, and they alone will remain in punishment who refused to be healed by the wholesomeness of our counsel. Nor should we be moved by the reproaches of the lost that we move even a little from the right path and from the sure rule, when the apostle instructs us, saying, 'If I should please men, I would not be the servant of Christ.'1 There is a difference between the one who would deserve well of men and the one who desires God. If we seek to please men, the Lord is offended, but if we strive that we might please God, we should scorn human abuse and curses. Saint Cyprian, Letter to Pope Cornelius 1 Gal 1.10

A Theologian Condemned

Grandem sollicitudinem atque excubias super gregem suum pastor habere approbatur. Similiter et ex alta turre causa civitatis diu noctuque cautus speculator observat. Magister providus navis hora tempestatis et periculi magnam patitur animi jactationem, ne procellis atque asperrimis fluctibus navis elidatur in saxa. Pari animo vir sanctus et honorabilis Theophilus, frater et coepiscopus noster, circa salutis commoda non desinit vigilare, ne Dei populus per diversas Ecclesias Origenem legendo, in magnas incurrat blasphemias. Conventus litteris memorati, convenio sanctitatem tuam, ut sicuti nos in urbe Roma positi, quam Princeps Apostolorum statuit et fide sua confirmavit gloriosus Petrus, ne quis contra praeceptum legat haec quae diximus, damnavius, et cum magnis precibus postulavimus, ut Evangeliorum instituta, quae ex ore suo Dei et Christi docuit censura, ab hac recedi omnino non debere, sed illud in memoriam deduci quod Paulus venerabilis Apostolus praedixit atque commonuit: 'Si quis vobis evangelizaverit praeter quod evangelizatum est vobis, anathema sit.' Igitur hoc praeceptum tenentes, illud quidquid est fidei nostrae contrarium, ab Origene quondam scriptum, indicavimus, a nobis esse alienum atque punitum Sanctus Anastatius I Papa, Epistula Simpliciano

It is befitting that a shepherd should have great care and vigilance for his flock. In similar fashion as from his high tower the cautious watchman keeps watch day and night on behalf of the city. In the hour of tempest and danger the soul of the captain of the vessel suffers great anxiety lest the gale and the rough waves smash his vessel against the rocks. With like soul the holy and honourable Theophilus, our brother and fellow bishop, does not cease to watch over the things that provide for salvation, that God's people in the different churches may not in the reading of Origen encounter grave blasphemies. Informed by a letter of the aforesaid man, we inform your holiness that likewise we who are set in the city of Rome in which the prince of the Apostles, glorious Peter, founded the church and by his faith strengthened it, that no man may contrary to commandment read that which we have mentioned and censured, and we have with many prayers urged the instructions of the Gospels, which from the mouth of God and Christ has taught judgement, from which no one should withdraw, but rather that a man should place in his mind what the venerable apostle Paul said and warned: 'If any preach any other gospel to you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.'1 Therefore holding to this precept, we have declared that whatever was written by Origen and is contrary to our faith is by us rejected and condemned. Saint Anastasius I, Letter to Simplicianus 1. Gal 1.8

The Ways of the Devil

In hac autem, dilectissimi, misericordia Dei, cujus erga nos magnitudinem explicare non possumus, multa sollicitudine praecavendum est Christianis ne diabolicis iterum capiantur insidiis, et eisdem rursus, quibus renuntiaverunt, erroribus implicentur. Non enim desinit hostis antiquus, transfigurans se in angelum lucis, deceptionum laqueos ubique praetendere, quoquo modo fidem credentium corrumpat, instare. Novit cui adhibeat aestus cupiditatis, cui illecebras gulae ingerat, cui apponat incitamenta luxuriae, cui infundat virus invidiae; novit quem moerore conturbet, quem gaudio fallat, quem metu opprimat, quem admiratione seducat; omnium discutit consuetudines, ventilat curas, scrutatur affectus; et ibi causa quaerit nocendi, ubi quemque viderit studiosius occupari. Habet etenim multos ex eis quos tenacius obligavit, aptos artibus suis, quorum ad alios decipiendos et ingeniis utatur et linguis. Sanctus Leo Magnus, Sermo XXVII

But in this mercifulness of God, dearly beloved, the greatness towards us which we cannot explain, Christians must be very careful lest they be caught again in the Devil's wiles and again become ensnared in the errors which they had renounced. Indeed the old enemy does not cease to transform himself into an angel of light that he might place everywhere the snares of deceptions and in every place corrupt the faith of believers. He knows to whom to apply the heat of greed, whom to beset with the allures of the belly, near whom to set the temptations of luxury, in whom to infuse the poison of envy; he knows whom to distress with grief, whom to delude with joy, whom to crush with fear, whom to seduce with admiration. He sifts everyone's habits, winnows everyone's cares, pries into everyone's affections; and there he seeks a chance to harm when he sees someone most keenly occupied. And indeed of these he has many whom he has bound more tightly because they are suited for his schemes, that he may employ their minds and tongues to deceive others. Pope Leo the Great, Sermon 27

Remembering Faults

Restat itaque, frater charissime. ut inter ea quae operante Deo exterius facis, semper te interius subtiliter judices, ac subtiliter intelligas et temetipsum qui sis, et quanta sit in eadem gente gratia, pro cujus conversione etiam faciendorum signorum deus percepisti. Et si quando te Creatori nostro seu per linguam, sive per opera reminisceris deliquise, semper haec ad memoriam revoces, ut surgentem corda gloria memoria reatus premat. Et quidquid de faciendis signis acceperis vel accepisti hac non tibi, sed illis deputes donata pro quorem salute collata sunt. Occurit autem menti ista cogitanti quid de uno famulo actum sit, etiam egregie electo. Certe Moyses dum Dei populum ex Aegypto educeret, mira, sicut tua fraternitas novit, signa in Aegypto operatus est. In Sina monte quadraginta diebus et noctibus jejunans, legis tabulas accepit, inter coruscos et tonituros, per timescente omni populo, omnipotentis Dei servitio solus familiari etiam collocutione conjunctus est; Rubrum mare aperuit; in itinere ducem habuit nubis columnam; esurienti populo manna de coelo deposuit; carnes desiderantibus usque ad sitentatem nimiam in eremo per miraculum minstravit. Sed cum jam sitis tempore ad petram ventum fuisset, diffusus est, seque de eadem aquam educere posse dubitavit, quam jubente Domino largis utique fluentis aperuit. Quanta autem post haec per triginta et octo annos in deserto miracula fecerit quis enummerare, quis investigare valeat. Quoties res dubia animum pulsasset, recurrens ad tabernaculum, secreto Dominum requirebat, atque de ea protinus, Deo loquente, docebatur. Iratum populo Dominum placabat saue preces intervetione; surgentes in superbia atque in discordia dissidentes dehiscentis terrae hiatibus absorbebat, victoriis premebat hostes, signa monstrabat civibus. Sed cum jam ad repromissionis terram ventum fuisset, vocatus in montem est; et quam culpam ante annos triginta et octo, ut dixi, fecerat audivit quia de educenda aqua dubitavit. Et propter hoc quia terram repromissions intrare non posset agnovit. Qua in re considerandum nobis est quam timendum sit omnipotentis Dei judicium, qui per illum famulum suum tot signa faciebat cujus culpam tam longo tempore adhuc servabat in cogitatione. Igitur, frater charissime, si et illum agnoscimus post signa pro culpa mortuum, quem ab omnipotente Deo novimus praecipue electum, quanto nos debemus metu contremiscere, qui necdum adhuc novimus si electi sumus?  Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, Registri Epistolarum, Liber XI, Epistola XXVIII, Ad Augustinum Anglorum Episcopum

So it remains, dearest brother, that among the things which by the operation of God you do outwardly, you should carefully judge yourself within, and carefully understand both what you are yourself and how great is the grace among the people for whom the conversion of which God has given the gift of doing signs. And if at any time you should recall having offended our Creator, whether it be in tongue or deed, always be mindful of these things, so that the rising glory of the heart may be suppressed by memory of guilt. And whatever for the doing of signs you may receive or have received, it is not for yourself, but as gifts for the salvation of others that they have been given to you. Indeed it comes to mind, while I think on these things, what happened with one of the servants of God, even one eminently chosen. Certainly Moses, when he led the people of God out of Egypt, as you know, worked signs in Egypt. Fasting forty days and nights on Mount Sina, he received the tables of the law, among lightning and thunder, and while all the people trembled he alone was associated with the service of Almighty God, even entering into conversation with Him. He opened the Red Sea; on the journey he had a pillar of a cloud as leader; to a hungry people he gave manna from heaven; flesh to those who desired it he supplied beyond satiation in the desert by a miracle. But when in a time of thirst they had come to the rock, he was distrustful, he doubted being able to draw water from it, that which at the Lord's command he then opened into copious streams. But how many miracles after these he did during thirty eight years in the desert who can enumerate or seek out? As many times as a doubtful matter struck his soul, he had recourse to the tabernacle, and sought out the Lord in secret, and, God speaking, he was immediately taught. The anger of the Lord against the people he appeased by the intervention of his own prayers; those who rose in pride and dissented in discord he consumed in gulfs of a gaping earth; he crushed enemies with victories, and showed signs to his people. But when the promised land had been reached, he was called to the mountain and a fault which he had committed thirty eight years before, one which I have spoken of, when he doubted about drawing water from the rock, he heard. And on account of this he was told that he could not enter the promised land. So we must consider and fear the judgment of Almighty God, who made so many signs through that servant, yet whose fault was kept in remembrance for so long. Therefore, dearest brother, if we find that he after many signs perished for a fault, he whom we know to have been especially chosen by Almighty God, with what fear should we tremble, who do not yet know whether we are chosen? Saint Gregory the Great, Registry of Letters, Book 11, Letter 28, To Augustine Bishop of the English

The Judgement of Men

Indico autem quod levitate populi tumultum contra vos detractionis exortum nuntiantibus quibusdam agnovi. Qua ex re excellentiam vestram audio fuisse taedio non modico contristam. Quod si ita est, valde miror cur vos, qui cor fixistis in coelo, verba hominum agitent in terra. Beatus enim Job, cum amici ejus qui ad consolandum venerant increpationem prosiliisent, ait, Ecce enim in caelo testis meus, et conscius meus in excelsis. Qui enim vitae suae in coelo testem habet, judicia hominum in terra pertimescere non debet. Dux quoque bonorum Paulus dicit: Gloria nostra haec est testimonium conscientiae nostrae. Qui iterum dicit: Opus suum probet unusquisque, et sic in semetipso gloriam habebit et non in altero. Si enim laudibus laetamur, et detractionibus frangimur, gloriam nostram non in nobis, sed in aliorum ore posuimus.  Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, Registri Epistolarum, Liber XI, Epistola XLV, Ad Theocistam

I will reveal that I have been informed by certain persons that, by the levity of the people, a storm of detraction has risen against you. I hear that because of it your Excellency has been wearied with no slight sadness. If this is so, I wonder much why you are agitated, you who have fixed your heart on heaven, by the words of men on earth. The blessed Job, when his friends who had come to console him had broken out into chiding, said, ' Behold my witness is in heaven, my confidant is on high.'1 For one who has the witness of his life in heaven should not fear the judgments of men on earth. Paul also, a leader of good men, says, 'Our glory is this, the testimony of our conscience.' 2 And again he says, 'Let every man prove his own work, and so shall he have glory in himself, and not in another.' 3 For if we are made joyful by praise and broken by detractions, not in ourselves, but in the mouths of others, we have placed our glory. Saint Gregory the Great, Registry of Letters, Book 11, Letter 45, To Theocista 1 Job 16.20 2 2 Cor 1.12  3 Gal 6.4

A Bishop's Pride Chastised

Quid enim fratres tui omnes universalis Ecclessiae episcopi, nisi astra coeli sunt? quorum vita simul et lingua inter peccata erroresque hominum quasi inter loctis tenebras lucent. Quibus dum cupis temetipsum vocabulo elato praeponere, eorumque nomen tui comparatione calcare, quid aliud dicis, nisi: In caelo conscendam, super astra coeli exaltabo solium meum? An non universi episcopi nubes sunt, qui et verbis praedicationis pluunt, et bonorum operum luce coruscant? Quos dum vestra fraternitas despiciens, sub se premere conatur, quid aliud dicit nisi hoc, quod ab antiquo hoste dicitur: Ascendam super altitudinem nubium? Quae cuncta ego cum flens conspicio, et occulta Dei judicia pertimesco, augentur lacryme, gemitus se in meo corde non capiunt, quod ille vir sanctissimus dominus Joannes, tantae abstinentiae atque humilitatis, familiarium seductione linguarum ad tantam superbiam erupit, ut in appetitu perversi nominis illi esse conetur similis, qui dum superbe esse similis Deo voluit, etiam donatae similitudinis gratiam amisit; et ideo veram beatitudinem perdidit, quia falsam gloriam quaesivit.   Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, Registri Epistolarum, Liber V, Epistola XVIII, Ad Joannem Episcopum

What indeed are all your brethren, the bishops of the universal Church, but the stars of heaven? Those whose life and speech shine among the sins and errors of men as if amid the darkness. And when you desire to elevate yourself by a proud title and to tread down their name in comparison with yours, what do you say but ' I will ascend into heaven, above the stars of heaven I will exalt my seat?' Are not all the bishops clouds, who rain with words of preaching and who flash with the light of good works? And when your Fraternity despises them, and you would try to press them down beneath yourself, what do say you but what is said by the ancient enemy, ' I will ascend above the heights of the clouds?' All these things I gaze on weeping, and shuddering at the hidden judgments of God, tears flood, and my heart cannot contain its groans, that the most holy man, the lord John, of so great abstinence and humility, has, through the seduction of familiar tongues, burst out into such a pitch of pride that he tries, in desire of that wrongful name, to be like him who, while proudly wishing to be like God, lost even the grace of the likeness granted to him, and thus true blessedness was destroyed because he sought false glory. Saint Gregory the Great, Registry of Letters, Book V, Letter 18, To the Bishop John

Advice to an Empress on the Treatment of Heretics

Si ergo praedicit nomen catholicum venerantur et diligunt, et inter Domini corporis volunt membra numerari, pravos errores, quos temere admiserent, detestentur, et agant poenitentiam impiarum blasphemiarum, cruentorumque factorum. Succumbant pro salute animarum suarum synodalibus, quae in civitate Chalcedonensi sunt confirmata, decretis. Et quia ad intelligendum sacramentum salutis humanae, nisi fides vera et humilitas quieta non pervenit, credant quod legunt in Evangelio, quod confitentur in symbolo, nec impiis dogmatibus misceantur. Fides enim catholica sicut damnat Nestorium, qui in uno Domino nostro Jesu Christo duas ausus est praedicare personas, ita damnat etiam Eutychen cum Dioscoro, qui ab unigenito Deo Verbo negant in utero Virginis matris veritatem carnis humanae susceptam. Si quid autem erga praedictorum conversionem exhortatio vestra profecerit, quod gloriam vobis praestabit aeteram, peto hoc mihi clementiae vestra litteris indicetis; ut et vos boni operis fructum cepisse, et illos gaudeam misericordia Domini non periisse.  Sanctus Leo Magnus, Epistola CXXIII, Ad Eudociam Augustam

Thus if the aforementioned venerate and love the Catholic name and wish to be numbered among the members of the Lord's body, let them despise the depraved errors which in recklessness they have committed, and let them make penitence for impious blasphemies and bloodshed. For the salvation of their souls let them yield to the synod's decrees which have been confirmed in the city of Chalcedon. And because the understanding of man's salvation does not come but with true faith and quiet humility, let them believe what they read in the Gospel and what they confess in the Creed, and let them not be mixed up with impious teachings. Just as the catholic faith condemns Nestorius, who dared to assert two persons in our one Lord Jesus Christ, so does it condemn Eutyches and Dioscorus who deny that the true human flesh was assumed in the womb of Virgin Mother's by the only begotten Word of God. If, then, your exhortations gain success in converting them, which will raise you to eternal glory, I ask your clemency to inform me in writing, so that I may grasp the fruit of your good work and the joy that they, through the Lord's mercy, have not perished. Pope Leo the Great, Letter 123, To the Empress Eudocia

The Weight of Priesthood

Sed ex consideratione hujus ordinis mentem meam, fateor, transverberat vis doloris. Grave namque est pondus sacerdotii; prius quippe est sacerdoti necesse, ut caeteris ad exemplum vivat, ac deinde servandum et mentem per ostensa exempla non elevet. De praedicationis semper ministerio cogitet, intentissimo timore considerans quod recessurus ad percipiendum regnum Dominus, et talenta servis tribuens dicat: Negotiamini dum venio. Quod profecto negotium tunc vere nos agimus, si vivendo et loquendo proximorum animas lucramur, si infirmos quosque, coelestis regni gaudia praedicando, in superno amore roboramus, si protervos ac tumidos, gehennae supplica terribiliter insonando, flectimus, si nulla contra veritatem parcimus, si supernis amicitiis dediti, humanas inimicitias non timemus. Quod nimirum exhibens, quasi quoddam se sacrificium obtulisse Deo Psalmista noverat, cum dicebat: Nonne qui oderant te, Deus, oderam illas, et superinimicos tuos tabescebam? Perfecto odio oderam illos, et inimici facti sunt mihi. Sed ad hoc ego pondus meae infirmitatis expavesco, et quod, accepto regno, paterfamilias redeat rationem nobiscum positurus, aspicio. Sed quacum mente sustinueo, cui de suscepto negotio animarum lucrum aut nullum, aut pene nullum reperto? Tua ergo me oratione, frate charissime, adjuva, et quae de me formidare me conspicis, in temetipso quotidie timore providae sollicitudinis pensa. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, Registrum Epistolarum, Lib II, Ep XLVII, Ad Dominicum Episcopum

But by the consideration of our order my mind, I confess, is stuck by the force of sorrow. For heavy is the weight of priesthood; since it is necessary for a priest to live as an example to others, and then to guard his soul that by his example it not be puffed up. He should always be thinking on the ministry of preaching, considering with intense fear how the Lord, when about to leave to receive a kingdom, and giving talents to His servants, says, 'Do business until I come.'1 Which business we truly perform if by living and speaking we profit the souls of our neighbours, if in preaching the joys of the heavenly kingdom we strengthen those weak in divine love, if in terrible declamations of the punishments of hell we prevail upon the insolent and the proud; if we spare no one against truth; if, given to heavenly friendships, we do not fear human hostility. Indeed it was in showing himself so that the Psalmist knew that he had offered a kind of sacrifice to God, when he said, 'Those who hated you, O God, did I not hate, and was I not appalled by your enemies? With a perfect hated I hated them and they became enemies to me.'2 But because of this burden I tremble for my infirmity, and with looking toward the return of the Master who, having received his kingdom, comes to take account of us. But with what mind shall I bear His coming, if from the business I have taken up I yield Him no profit of souls, or almost none? Therefore, dearest brother, help me with prayer; and what you see me to fear for myself, for yourself ponder daily with provident anxiety. Saint Gregory the Great, Registry of Letters, Book II, Letter 47, To the Bishop Dominicus 1 Lk 19.13  2 Ps 138. 21-22