Moralia in Job 25

Argument. — 1. Gregory's decree concerning the inheritance of bishops. — 2. His mercy, especially in redeeming captives. — 3. For the sake of this redemption he praises the selling off of sacred vessels. — 4. He grants freedom to certain servants of the Church. — 5. He provides for the support of those deserting schism. — 6. What at that time were the resources and patrimonies of the Roman Church. Very many cities subject to its dominion. The lavish alms of the earlier Roman pontiffs. To which St. Gregory added. — 7. His opinion concerning the residence of bishops. — 8. Foreign clerics not to be received without letters dimissory from their own bishops. — 9. Concerning private masses and the plurality of altars in the time of St. Gregory. — 10.

Where too the causes of bishops are to be judged. — 11. By whom the causes of clerics. St. Gregory keeps the privileges of the Churches inviolate. Concerning the consecration of Churches. — 12. What measure he kept in praising friends. (In the years 596 and 597.) 1. Gregory, though bending such labour and zeal upon gathering and collecting within the Church those who were outside, nevertheless relaxed nothing of his pastoral solicitude toward the flock long since committed to his care by the supreme Shepherd. There was danger lest bishops, serving the greed of their kinsmen and led astray by their wicked counsels, should from the Church's revenues acquire estates to leave to them by hereditary right: whence there would be no alms, or scantier, to the needy.

This indeed had already been forbidden by the sacred laws; but John, Bishop of Ravenna, had scorned them, and, having made a testament, had recorded diverse things to the detriment of his Church (Book 6, letter 2); expostulating about which, the presbyters, deacons, and all the clergy of Ravenna went to the Pope: by whom it was adjudged that whatever he had ordained by testament, concerning the goods of his Church or of things acquired during his episcopate, against the statutes of the laws, these should be reckoned void. 'But if he willed or decreed anything to be done concerning his own goods which he had before the episcopate, and which indeed he had not previously conferred upon his Church, it is necessary that it obtain firm force in all respects,' says the most equitable pontiff.

He decreed the same again afterwards, and moreover charged Scholasticus the defensor (Book 11, letter 20) to abstain entirely from the garments and from whatever things were found in the house of the bishop's father lately deceased: for he wished all things which the parsimony of the bishops and other clerics had perhaps withheld from the poor, afterwards to fall to those same poor, being truly a father of the needy. 2. Since he knew that the revenues of the bishops could by no means suffice to feed the poor, he most willingly supplied what was enough for them. The letter to Cyprian is to be read, in which he directs that from the patrimony of the Church which he governed, up to two thousand modii, if he should collect so much, he should give to Bishop Zeno to be distributed to the needy (Book 6, letter 4).

He showed himself especially bountiful in redeeming captives, a pious work to which he bade those whom he had set over the affairs of the Church to apply themselves vigorously. Thus he writes to Anthemius, the subdeacon managing the patrimony of Campania: 'What grief and what affliction is in our heart concerning the things which have happened in the parts of Campania, we cannot tell, but from the magnitude of the calamity you yourself can gather it. For this reason, for the relief of the captives who are held, we have transmitted through the bearer of these, Stephen, a magnificent man, gold coins to your experience, admonishing you that you ought to be altogether solicitous, and vigorously carry it out, and hasten to redeem the free men whom you know cannot suffice for their own redemption.'

'But those who were slaves, and whose masters you shall have found to be so poor that they cannot rise to redeem them, do not cease to procure these also' (Ibid., letter 35). In this year too Crotona, lying on the Adriatic Sea, was captured by the Lombards; and many noble men and many noble women were led away as booty; and sons were separated from parents, parents from sons, and spouses from spouses (Book 7, letter 26); for the restoring of whom to liberty the most pious father expended both his own money and that offered by others. 3. For the redeeming of captives he not only permitted but praised the selling off of sacred vessels; as is clear from very many of his letters.

Fortunatus, Bishop of Fano, had received leave to sell them, that he might pay the money he had borrowed and expended on the redemption of captives, since he had otherwise no means of paying; to whom he wrote back: 'Since we have learned, by the report of your fraternity, that you borrowed money for the redemption of captives, and have not the means whence to repay it, and on this account wish, by our authority, to sell off the consecrated vessels; in this matter, because both the decrees of the laws and of the canons consent, we take care to lend our consent, and in the selling off of the consecrated vessels we grant you licence' (Book 7, letter 13). Here he assents; but in another letter he gives a precept, writing to Donus, Bishop of Messina:

'Your fraternity ought to be solicitous that, if indeed there is common silver belonging to the aforesaid Church, you take the above-written quantity: otherwise you must supply from the consecrated vessels, in this matter, that quantity which we have named before. For just as it is altogether grievous to sell ecclesiastical vessels to no purpose, so again it is a fault, when necessity of this kind is imminent, to set the goods of a most destitute Church before its own captives, and to be idle in their redemption' (Ibid., letter 58). 4. With the same piety and munificence he sometimes granted freedom to servants of the Roman Church who had deserved well of it, and made them Roman citizens, granting them all their peculium, with gifts also added.

An example and formula of this kind of manumission you have in the letter written to Montana and Thomas (Book 6, letter 12). That manumissions were solemnly celebrated by the bishops in the Church he teaches us elsewhere, writing to Bishop Paul (Book 2, letter 10). 5. Above others they experienced the mercy of Gregory who, having returned to the Church from schism or from heresy, endured as adversaries their own countrymen still more obstinately clinging to their rebellion (Ibid., letters 39 and 47).

Imitating this liberality of the most holy and most wise pontiff, Louis the Great, the most Christian King of the French, took care by yearly pensions to cherish the followers of the Calvinist error who had returned to the bosom of the Church, so that in the lap of their pious mother they might at least obtain the same necessities of life which the stepmother heresy had before abundantly supplied. 6. Since we have now many times spoken of St. Gregory's liberality poured out upon all, it is worth the labour to show in few words what at that time were the resources of the Roman Church, whence it drew supplies for such great and almost immense expenses. Already from ancient times this Church, chief of all the rest, possessed many and very great landed estates throughout the whole Christian world, which were called the patrimonies of St.

Peter's patrimonies. From the letters of the holy pontiff there are known: the African; the Sicilian, manifold, as is evident from letter 44 of book 1, and from the very many letters sent to the defensors and rectors of Sicily, which we have collected in the geographical index under the title of Sicily; the Corsican, the Dalmatian, the Gallican. Concerning those which the Roman Church possessed within Italy, especially in Campania, it would be superfluous to speak. We conjecture that most ample possessions were granted by Constantine the Great, whose munificence in enriching the churches Eusebius especially praises in his Life. (See book 1, letter 75; book 3, letter 27; book 9, letter 18; book 6, letter 22; book 3, letters 22 and 53; book 1, letters 55 and 65; book 4, chapter

28.) We conjecture that the city of Nepi in Etruria was subject to the jurisdiction of the Roman pontiff, from letter 11 of the second book, in which he signifies that he had enjoined upon Leontius, a most illustrious man, the care and solicitude of the city, that, keeping watch over all things which he shall recognise to pertain to the advantage of the citizens or of the commonwealth, he himself should dispose of them. In the same letter he admonishes the clergy, the senatorial order, and the people of this city to show obedience in all things to the prefect appointed by him: 'Because whoever,' he says, 'shall unfittingly resist his appointment, shall be known to spurn our arrangement. But whoever shall hearken to him in those things which we have mentioned above, hearkens to us.'

'But if anyone—which we do not believe—shall think, after this our admonition, that he is to be despised, let him know beyond doubt that the peril pertains to himself.' By what authority and power would Gregory have both committed to Leontius, a most illustrious man, the guardianship of the city of Nepi, and have enjoined the citizens to obey him, with threats even added, unless it had been of the jurisdiction of the Church? That Hydruntum and the fortress of Callipolis pertained to the same is gathered elsewhere (Book 9, letters 99 and 100). This too must be said of Naples, since we read that the Pope deputed a tribune for the guardianship of this city (Book 2, letter

31), and commanded the soldiers who were in the garrison of this city, doubtless for no other reason than because it was subject to his dominion, though not yet wholly shaking off the yoke of the emperors. That long before this the supreme pontiffs had been raised to a most ample dignity, Ammianus Marcellinus is witness (Book 27, chapter 3); a dignity which even Praetextatus, prefect of the City, would not have hesitated to prefer to his own, even though he had regard only for secular power. Dionysius, Bishop of the Corinthians, who flourished toward the close of the second century, writes thus to the Romans and to Pope Soter, in Eusebius (Book 6, chapter 23):

'This is your custom,' he says, 'from the very beginning of your religion, that you bestow upon all the brethren every kind of benefaction, and transmit to very many churches which are established in the several cities the necessary supports of life, and by this means both relieve the distress of the needy, and supply necessaries to the brethren who labour in the mines... And your blessed bishop Soter has not only kept this custom, but even increased it.' Another Dionysius, namely of Alexandria, in a letter addressed to Pope Stephen about the middle of the third century, testifies that he was accustomed to supply necessaries to all the provinces of Syria together with Arabia (Ibid., book 7, chapter 5);

All these things are proofs both of his supreme authority and of how excellently it was administered. This devout custom of his predecessors in relieving the needy Gregory was so far from abolishing or diminishing that he even increased it greatly. Among the poor to whom he most gladly furnished the necessities of life, he counts three thousand nuns in the city of Rome; nor indeed did he think that anything was owed to him by them in return for such abundant alms; rather he professed that he and all the Romans were debtors to those same women: 'Their manner of life,' he says, 'is such, and so given over to tears and to strict abstinence, that we believe that, if they did not exist, none of us, now after so many years, could have survived in this place amid the swords of the Lombards.'

In order that shepherds might always be at hand and ready for their sheep, so as to supply whatever was necessary for the life of either soul or body, he did not permit them to be absent from their churches or to wander abroad. Therefore, when he heard that Pimenius, bishop of Amalfi, was not residing in his own church, he wrote about him in threatening letters to Anthemius (Book VI, ep. 23), that he should compel him to reside after the priestly manner; but if he did not amend, he should thrust him into a monastery. For the sake of episcopal residence, he granted to the bishops of Sicily that they should assemble at Rome only once every five years, whereas previously they had been obliged to present themselves every three years; and in this matter he took thought also for lessening their labour (Book VII, ep.

22). Felix, bishop of Messina, burned with a great desire to see Gregory; but because, perhaps through the shepherd's prolonged absence, his flock might have suffered some harm, he asked his friend not to undertake the toil of so great a journey: 'But pray,' he says, 'for us, that, however far the intervals of the road separate us, so much the more may we, with Christ's help, be joined together in charity in our souls toward one another' (Book I, ep. 66).

He wished not only bishops, but also presbyters and other clerics, to remain fixed in their own churches, not to migrate from parish to parish nor to wander about, a thing which had also been provided for by the canons of the Church. But if any bishops requested certain clerics belonging to others to be promoted in their own clergy and assigned to fixed ministries, their proper bishop first had to dismiss them, a release being made; nor could one be incardinated without his consent (Book VI, ep. 20). Even those who had been elected as bishops needed such letters, called letters dimissory, from their own bishop in order to be ordained (Book V, ep. 17).

For the same reason it was forbidden that monks be taken by bishops for the priesthood or for the discharge of other ecclesiastical duties without the consent of their abbot (Book VI, ep. 28). Here observe how great is the agreement, in this respect, of present-day discipline with the ancient. 9. This very same agreement it is well to display in the matter of private Masses and of a multitude of altars within one and the same church, so that the heterodox may be refuted who unseasonably stir up strife with us on the ground of novelty. John, bishop of Syracuse, had rejected the offerings of the patrician Venantius, who, taking this ill, sent armed retainers in hostile fashion against the episcopal residence.

When the Pope received news of this, he wrote to Venantius, expostulating about the injury done to the bishop, since, on account of his known gravity, holiness, and gentleness, he ought to have been safe from such violence and outrage (Book VI, ep. 43). 'Whence it is necessary,' he says, 'that you also should show him priestly reverence, as befits sons, and not provoke his spirit to anger. For with whom will you be sure to have favour and trust, if — which God forbid — you are at discord with a priest?' In another letter (ibid., ep. 44) he exhorted John to keep concord and peace with Venantius;

for the sake of which Gregory was pleased not only that the offerings of the patrician be received, but also that the mysteries of the Mass be permitted to be performed in his house, nay even that Venantius himself, if he should so wish, might have them celebrated. Indeed it was chiefly because these two things had been denied that this quarrel had arisen. Who, unless bleary-eyed, would not here see clearly that private Masses, and Masses in private dwellings, were both customary and approved? As regards the plurality of altars within the enclosure of one and the same church, this is drawn from a letter written also in this year to Palladius, bishop of Saintes in Gaul (Book VI, ep. 49). He had built a church in honour of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul, and of the holy martyrs Laurence and Pancratius;

in which he had placed thirteen altars, and had sent to Rome the presbyter Leuparic, to request the sacred relics to be placed in four altars not yet dedicated. The devout pontiff assented, and sent to Palladius relics of the praised apostles and martyrs, which he asked to be received and enshrined with the utmost reverence. Let the studious reader consult the notes on this letter, from which he will learn that very many altars were erected long before Gregory. And although the present-day custom of the Greeks does not admit this multitude of altars, yet it is shown that formerly it was by no means disapproved by them, from Theodore the Studite, letter 219, at question 15. From the word 'altar,' if there were a mind to do battle with the heterodox, they could easily be pressed;

since 'altar' in Greek compels one to admit sacrifice and victim under the new law, a thing which nevertheless they reject far off. But the word 'altar' is frequently used in writers nearly contemporary with the apostles. Let one martyr, Ignatius, stand for all: 'All of you,' he says in the epistle to the Magnesians, no. 7, 'run together as into one temple of God, as to one altar.' And in the epistle to the Trallians, no. 7: 'He who is within the altar is pure; but he who is outside the altar is not pure.' He accords with the apostles Paul and John, in whom, even after the old altar was rejected, mention of another altar often occurs. But, passing over these things, let us hasten on to the remaining deeds of St. Gregory belonging to this year. 10.

His supreme modesty in the administration of the supreme pontificate shines forth in his letter to Columbus, a bishop in Numidia. Peter, once bishop of that province, as it was said, had approached the Apostolic See and demanded its judgment. But because, says the most wise Pope, 'being separated by so long a stretch of journey, we were by no means able subtly to learn the inner facts of his cause, being uncertain of it, we could not define it' (Book VI, ep. 37). Therefore it seemed best to him that bishop Columbus should sit as judge between Peter and his accusers, because, being present, he could know the cause more subtly.

Sometimes also he permitted accused bishops, in order to clear themselves, to seek the imperial city and present themselves to the emperor. 11. How vigorously he championed the rights of bishops is proved by his letter to Fortunatus, bishop of Naples, whose words are these: 'Since it has come to us that clerics and other religious persons of your city and parish are being summoned by others, we forbid this to be done henceforth; and we will that neither your cleric, nor a monk, nor any religious person whatsoever of any city belonging to your parish be summoned by anyone, or be brought before another's judgment. But if anyone wishes to raise a question of any business against persons of this kind, let him know that your Fraternity is to be approached.'

'Or if perchance, as often happens, some suspicion should in any way have arisen among them, and they should perhaps desire the judgment of chosen men, let them have the right of choosing arbiters under your execution; so that in this way neither may you seem to have lost jurisdiction, nor may the plaintiff seem, by litigating before one who is suspect, to suffer prejudice' (Book VI, ep. 11). It was no trouble to transcribe these things, because they seem to contain the form of ecclesiastical judgments. Just as he wished the rights of bishops, so too the rights and privileges of churches to remain inviolate, as that most equitable pontiff openly professes, in sending the Pallium to Donus, bishop of Messina, and John, bishop of Syracuse.

In the letters sent to each of them, which are entirely similar, I seem to myself to detect the common and customary formula for granting the pallium (Book VI, epp. and 18). It is worthy of note that no churches of the provinces of Sicily and Italy, subject to the Roman pontiff as to their metropolitan, were then consecrated without his permission; which is drawn not only from letter 45, written this year, but also from very many others. In consecrating baptisteries the same rule applied. 12. An example is furnished to us of the manner to be kept in praising friends by the letter written to Stephen, abbot of Lérins.

Augustine, on his return to Rome, had informed the Pope of the concord of that community, in which there were several presbyters and deacons. With how great joy Gregory received this is witnessed by his addressing abbot Stephen in friendly letters; and he praises his vigilance, and gives thanks for the gifts received from him for the ministry of the poor. Nevertheless, after these prefaced praises, he adds this exhortation: 'But because the enemy of the human race does not cease to lie in wait for our actions, but with constant cunning strives to deceive, in whatever part he can, the souls that serve God:'

'therefore, most beloved son, we exhort you to exercise your solicitude vigilantly, and so to guard those committed to you with prayer and provident care, that the prowling wolf may find no occasion for tearing them to pieces' (Book VI, ep. 56).