Letter 1062: If our Lord Himself by the testimony of Holy Scripture declares Himself to be the husband of widows and father of orphans, we also, the members of His body, ought with the soul's supreme affection to set ourselves to imitate the head, and saving justice, to stand by orphans and widows if need be. And, having been given to understand that Catella...
Book I, Letter 62
To Januarius, Archbishop of Cagliari [chief city of Sardinia].
Gregory to Januarius.
Since our Lord Himself declares through Holy Scripture that He is the husband of widows and the father of orphans, we too, as members of His body, should strive with all our hearts to imitate our Head by standing up for orphans and widows when needed, while always respecting justice.
We understand that Catella, a religious woman whose son serves here in the holy Roman Church over which we preside under God, is being troubled by the harassment and demands of certain people. We therefore urge Your Fraternity by this letter to extend your protection to this woman, with due respect for justice. In doing so, you make the Lord your debtor and bind us to you all the more in the bonds of charity.
We wish this woman's legal matters, both present and future, to be settled by your judgment, so that she is freed from the annoyance of lawsuits -- yet is by no means excused from accepting a just verdict.
I pray the Lord to direct your life on a prosperous course toward Himself, and in His mercy to bring you to the kingdom of glory to come.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
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