Gregory to John, bishop of Syracuse. Although there may have been a cause which not undeservedly provoked the spirit of your Fraternity to wrath, so that you were unwilling to receive the offerings of the lord Venantius, nor would you allow the sacred solemnities of the masses to be celebrated in his house—nevertheless, because earthly advantage ought so to be handled that no quarrel may avail to sever us from the bond of charity, therefore we exhort your Holiness, as we wrote a while ago, that you ought both to receive the offerings of the aforesaid man in all sweetness and in a sincerity pleasing to God, and to permit the mysteries of the masses to be performed in his house;
so that, as we wrote, if perchance he shall wish it, you ought to go through your own person, and by celebrating masses with him, to restore the former grace. For it behooves you to bestow a sacerdotal affection upon sons, and in causes, according as reason supports it, in no way to pass over the jurisdiction of your Church. Considering this therefore, it is necessary that your Fraternity so strive to conduct yourself toward them with discreet moderation, that you may both salubriously carry out what the quality of the business demands, and not withdraw from the grace of paternal charity.