Letter 11031
Gregory the Great (Wisigothic)→Unknown|gregory great
From: Gregory the Great, Pope, in Rome
To: Paschasius, Bishop of Naples
Date: ~601 AD
Context: Gregory instructs Paschasius to provide the relics of St. Severinus to Venantius for the consecration of an oratory.
Gregory to Paschasius, bishop of Naples.
Venantius is building an oratory and needs relics for its consecration. I direct you to provide the relics of the blessed Severinus for this purpose.
A properly consecrated oratory with appropriate relics gives the community that will use it a direct connection to the communion of saints. This is not ceremony for its own sake; it is the church making visible and tangible the reality of the mystical body of Christ that extends across time.
Provide the relics and assist with the consecration as needed.
Gregory
AD PASCHASIUM NEAPOLITANUM EPISCOPUM,
Venantio sancti Severini reliquias ad oratorii cons6-
cralionem. concedat..
Gregorius Paschasio episcopo Neapolitano.
Joannes, servus el actor domni Venantii, sanctua-
ria beati Severini confessoris, oblata petilione, $U-
prascripto * domino $uo postulat debere concedi,
quatenus in ejus nomine oratorium propriis constru-
ctum sumptibus possit Solemniter consecrari; et ideo,
ſrater charissiuie, prefati desideriis ex nostra 8
preceplione convenit abedire, ut devotiovis sue in
consecratione quam postulat potiatur effectu >. Da-
tum mense Februarii, indict. 4.
EPISTOLA XXNII.
AD MARINIANUM RAVENNATEM EPISCOPUM.
Concess1s Candido dbbati reliquias. Se tot ac lantis
egritudinibus afſectum, ut vivere pena sit. Preces
apud Deum pelit, ut flagella mitiget, et patientiam
concedat.
Gregorius * Mariniano Ravennz.
Latore hue presentium Candido abbate pro pe-
tendis reliquiis, que et concess2 $8unt, veniente,
quanto de fraternitatis tuz nutrimento ketatus sum,
quod in eo $tudium tuz ſraternitatis apparnit, tanto
contrislatus $um quod ejus, ut volui, presentia'frui
in memoriam, ut judicemur simul (I8ai. xLin, 26). 7 non potui, quod me et zgrotum reperit, et discedens - .
EriST. XXX [Al. 25]. — * In hac mscriptione $e-.
enti sumus Mss. Norm,, Anglic., Corb. et plerosque
Vatic. tantum habes, Venantio Syracusano. Consentit
vet. Colbert. In Excusis vitiose legitur episcopo Sy-
racusano, si novissimam Gussanvillei Edit. excipias.
Venantins ex $Superioribus epistolis, maxime ex 54
lib. 1, satis notus.
© Omittitur delicta nostra, in Norm. et Corb.
4 Iy Excusis, in aternum. Quatuor Vaticani, in
termino abscondant.
* Vulgali recent., dulcedinem intermitlat. Adbe-
remus quatuor Vatic., totidem Colbert., omnibus
Noru., Corb., Regio, etc.
eg.
EpisT. XXXIL {Al. 27]. — ® In Vatic. Bet E,
Mariniano episcopo Arabie. In Excnsis, Marimiano
episcopo Arabie, Emendavimus vitiosas ills in-
scriptivnes, ex omnibus Anglic., Norm., quatuor
Colhert., duobus Teller., Corb., Rhem., Reg. et
Valic. D.
1445 EPISTOLARUM LIB. XI. — INDICT. 1V.— EPIST. XXXIV. 1146
in infirmitate adhuc positum dereliquit. Multum enim A ipse valde sum debilis, et omnino est utile ut cum
jam tempus esl quod surgere de lectulo non valeo.
| Nam modo 1 1 1G me podagrz dolor crucial, modo
' nexcio quis in toto corpore cum dolore $e ignis ex-
pandit; el fit plerumque ut uno in me lempore ardor
cum dolore confligat, et corpus in me animusque
deficiat. Quantis autem aliis necessilatibus exira hec
que retuli infirmitalis aſficiar, enumerare non VYa-
leo. Sed breviter dico quia sic me inſectio noxii hu»
moris imbibit, ut vivere mihi pena sit, et mortem
desideranter exspectem, quam gemitibus meis solam
esse credo posse remedium. Proinde, traler sanctis-
zine, divine pro me pietatis misericordiam depre=-
care, ut percussionis suz erga me flagella propitius
mitiget, et patientiam tolerandi concedat , ne nimio,
Dei gratia $anus ad twam redeas Ecclesiam; aut
certe $i vocandus es, inter tuorum manus voceris ;
et ego qui me proximum morii video, si me omni-
potens Deus ante te vocare voluerit, inter tuas ma-
nus transire debeam. LI 1 1'7 Si autem qualitas tem-
poris ad veniendum prepedierit, aliquo * parvo
exenio dato, apud agonem agi polest ut ipse vobis-
cum hominem suvum usque Romam transmittat. Sj
igitur eadem zgritudine gravari te sentis, et venire
disponis, cum paucis tibi veniendum est, quia me-
cum in episcopio manens, quolidiana obsequia de
hac Ecclesia habebis.
Przterea nec hortor nec admoneo, sed districle
precipio ut jejunare mipime presumas, quia dicuut
quod absit, tzedio in impatientiam cor erumpat, et ea B medici huic molestiz valde es8e contrarium, nish
quz bene curari per plagam poterat culpa, crescat
ex murmure Þ, Datum mense Februarii, indict. 4.
(Cf. Joan. Diac. l. 1v, c. 67.)
◆
From: Gregory the Great, Pope, in Rome
To: Paschasius, Bishop of Naples
Date: ~601 AD
Context: Gregory instructs Paschasius to provide the relics of St. Severinus to Venantius for the consecration of an oratory.
Gregory to Paschasius, bishop of Naples.
Venantius is building an oratory and needs relics for its consecration. I direct you to provide the relics of the blessed Severinus for this purpose.
A properly consecrated oratory with appropriate relics gives the community that will use it a direct connection to the communion of saints. This is not ceremony for its own sake; it is the church making visible and tangible the reality of the mystical body of Christ that extends across time.
Provide the relics and assist with the consecration as needed.
Gregory
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.