Letter 5022: You did me the honor of entrusting the choice of your bishop to my judgment, and I want you to know that I take that...
You did me the honor of entrusting the choice of your bishop to my judgment, and I want you to know that I take that trust seriously. I am working to find you a man of the quality you deserve — and the standard I have in mind is high. Maximianus has shown what a good Sicilian bishop can be, and I am not going to present you with someone who falls significantly short of that example. Be patient a little longer. I am looking, and I will not stop looking until I find the right man.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
AD NOB/LES SYRACUSANOS.
Cum episcopi electionem Gregorii arbitrio commis's8ent,
talem eis ordinare studet, qr: Maximianum deces80-
rem imiltelur.
Gregorius nobilibus Syracusanis.
Laudis vestre testimonium 4 quam direxistis gerit
epistola, quod electionis vos onera 8apieuter decli-
nasse $ignificat. Et quoniam nostro hoc arbitlrio com-
mi-ivtis, ac mulia bona de venerandzze memorize
quondam Maximiano episcopo JSZ referentes
talem vobis ordinari depo>citis, - vos quidem sicut
decet fideles filios facitis, quia hc de digno sollici-
loque patre lestamini, et obtrectantibus aliis bona
jipsius etiam pos! obitum non lacelis. Unde oramus
omnipotentem Dominum, ut et vobis pro sinceritatis
vesirz voluntate retribuat, et obloquentibus clemen-
ter ignoscat. Hoc tamen sciat maguitudo vesira, quia
civitati illi quem dare Maximiano reverendissimo
similem non habemus. Sed quia a clero et plebe
Ecclesiz Syracusanze Agatho, ab aliquibus autem
alter eligitur, hunc qui a clero et plebe electus est
ad nos jiterum venire necesse est, ut utrisque comi-
nus constitutis, ille qui Deo placuerit, et uiiler
visus ſuerit, ordinetur. Nam desiderii nostri est ta-
lem illic cum Chrisli gratia ordinari pomificem, qui
bonorum $supradicti episcopi cujus vos actiondbis
tes monium perhibevs in omnibus debeat, Dev ad-
jutore, imilator exislere.
Revision history
- 2026-03-20v2.1.0-import
Initial corpus import from Unreviewed source import.
Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://archive.org/details/bim_early-english-books-1641-1700_1849_77
Related Letters
**From:** Gregory I, Bishop of Rome
You know what has been done in the case of the prevaricator Maximus. For after the most serene Lord the Emperor had sent orders that he should not be ordained , then he broke out into a higher pitch of pride. For the men of the glorious patrician Romanus received bribes from him, and caused him to be ordained in such a manner that they would ha...
Gregory to all monks established on the island of Monte Cristo [a small island off the Tuscan coast with a monastic...
Gregory to Anastasius, Bishop of Antioch. I have received through the hands of our common son the deacon Sabinianus the longed for letter of your most sweet Holiness, in which the words have flowed not from your tongue but from your soul. And it is not surprising that one speaks well who lives perfectly.
Having received your Glory's letters, which spoke with tears for words, we, most beloved daughters, are affected by no less sorrow than yourselves for your father's sickness. For we cannot account that sadness as extraneous which is made our own by the law of charity. But, since in no state of despair ought there to be distrust in the mercy of o...