Pastoral Rule, Dialogues & Letters 95

GREGORY: In the times of Justinian Augustus also, when the Arian persecution that had arisen from the Vandals was raging fiercely against the faith of the catholics in Africa, certain bishops, standing firmly in the defense of the truth, were brought into the midst. When the king of the Vandals could not by words and by gifts bind them to perfidy, he believed that he could break them by tortures. For when he imposed silence upon them in the very defense of the truth, and yet they did not keep silent against perfidy, lest by keeping silent they might perhaps seem to have consented, being seized with fury, he caused their tongues to be cut out by the roots.

A marvelous thing, and known to many elders, that afterwards they thus spoke in defense of the truth even without a tongue, just as before they had been accustomed to speak by the tongue. PETER: A thing greatly to be marveled at and vehemently stupendous. GREGORY: It is written, Peter, of the Only-begotten of the most high Father: 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God' (John 1:1). Of whose power it is also added: 'All things were made through Him' (ibid.). Why then do we marvel if the Word which made the tongue was able to bring forth words without a tongue? PETER: What you say pleases me. GREGORY: These men, then, being at that time fugitives, came to the city of Constantinople.

At that time also, when I myself was sent for the fulfilling of the Church's business to the emperor, I found a certain aged bishop who testified that he had seen those men's mouths speaking without tongues, so that with open mouths they cried out: 'Behold, see that we have no tongues, and yet we speak.' For it seemed to those who looked on, as he related, that with the tongues cut out by the roots there was open, as it were, a kind of abyss in the throat, and yet with the empty mouth full words were formed complete. Of these, one of them there, having fallen into lechery, was soon deprived of the gift of the miracle; namely by the just judgment of almighty God, that he who had neglected to keep the continence of the flesh should not have without a fleshly tongue the words of power.

But let it suffice that we have said these things for the condemnation of the Arian heresy; now let us return to those signs which were lately done in Italy.