Pastoral Rule, Dialogues & Letters 155

Gregory to all the bishops of Italy. Since the most wicked Authari, in this Paschal solemnity which was recently completed, forbade the sons of the Lombards to be baptized in the Catholic faith, for which fault the divine Majesty extinguished him, so that he did not see the solemnity of another Pasch, it becomes your fraternity to admonish all the Lombards throughout your regions that, since a grievous mortality everywhere threatens, they should bring their own sons, baptized in the Arian heresy, over to the Catholic faith, so as to appease upon themselves the wrath of the omnipotent Lord. Whomsoever therefore you can admonish, with all the strength you have, snatch them to the right faith by persuading, and preach eternal life to them without ceasing;

so that, when you shall come to the sight of the strict Judge, you may be able, out of your solicitude, to show forth in yourselves the gain of a shepherd. Gregory to Peter the subdeacon. It has been intimated to us that Marcellus of the Church of Barunita, assigned there in the city of Panormus, in the monastery of Saint Adrian, to do penance, suffers not only the want of food, but also endures the excessive trouble of nakedness. For which reason we deem it necessary to enjoin upon your diligence by the present order that you appoint for him, for food and clothing and a bed befitting continence, and for his servant a food-allowance, as much as you shall judge to be enough;

so that his want and nakedness may be provided for by such foresight, in such a way that whatever you shall have assigned to the same man may afterwards be able to be charged to your accounts. Act therefore so that you both fulfill our command, and, by well disposing this very thing, may yourself also be able to share in this same reward. Moreover, we have taken care to charge you to investigate this, the old custom which had already grown up being set aside: that if any ci-

-ties in the province of Sicily are known to be vacant of pastoral governance on account of sins, through the lapse of priests, you should look, from the clergy of those Churches themselves or from the monasteries, whether any worthy men can be found for the priestly office, and, the gravity of their morals having first been inquired into, send them to us, so that the flock of each place may not be found for long destitute through the lapse of its pastor. But if you shall indeed find places vacant, and no one suitable for such dignity can be found from the same Church, likewise report to us with diligent inquiry, so that God may be able to provide one whom He shall have judged worthy of such ordinations. For it is not fitting that, by the excess of one man, the Lord's flock should thus flow apart over the precipices without a shepherd.

For thus both the ordination of the places will come about, and there will remain no suspicion of the lapsed returning to their former rank, that they might the better do penance.