Letter 5018: Gregory to John, Bishop of Constantinople. At the time when your Fraternity was advanced to Sacerdotal dignity, you remember what peace and concord of the churches you found. But, with what daring or with what swelling of pride I know not, you have attempted to seize upon a new name, whereby the hearts of all your brethren might have come to tak...

Gregory to John, Bishop of Constantinople. When you were raised to the office of bishop, you will recall what peace and harmony the churches enjoyed. Yet now -- with what audacity or swelling pride I cannot fathom -- you have seized upon a new title that could only offend all your brother bishops. This astonishes me, since I remember how you would have preferred to flee the episcopal office rather than accept it. And yet, having obtained it, you wield it as though you had chased after it out of ambition. You once confessed yourself unworthy to be called a bishop, and now you have sunk so low as to despise your brothers and covet being called the only bishop. My predecessor Pelagius, of holy memory, already addressed weighty letters to you on this matter. He annulled the acts of the synod convened in your jurisdiction in the case of our former brother and fellow bishop Gregory, precisely because of that abominable title of pride, and he forbade his archdeacon -- sent to the imperial court according to custom -- from celebrating Mass with you. After Pelagius's death, when I, unworthy as I am, succeeded to the governance of the Church, I addressed your Fraternity through my representatives and through our mutual colleague the deacon Sabinianus -- not in writing, but verbally -- urging you to abandon this presumption. When you refused to comply, I forbade him to celebrate Mass with you, hoping that shame might first accomplish what formal canonical proceedings could later enforce. And since wounds that must be cut away should first be treated gently, I beg you, I implore you, I demand of you with all the warmth I can muster: reject the flattering voices that offer you this erroneous title, and do not foolishly consent to be called by a name born of pride. I say this with tears and deep grief in my heart, and I attribute it to my own sins that this brother of mine -- appointed to the episcopal rank for the very purpose of leading souls back to humility -- has himself proved incapable of returning to humility, and though he teaches truth to others, refuses to teach it to himself even when I beg him. Consider, I ask you, that this reckless presumption disrupts the peace of the entire Church and contradicts the grace poured out upon all of us equally. You could grow so much in that grace if only you would restrain yourself from usurping a proud and foolish title. You will advance precisely to the degree that you stop exalting yourself at the expense of your brothers. Therefore, dearest brother, embrace humility with all your heart, so that the harmony of all the brothers and the unity of the holy universal Church may be preserved. The apostle Paul, when he heard some saying "I am of Paul, I of Apollos, I of Christ," was horrified at such tearing apart of the Lord's body, as if believers were attaching themselves to rival heads, and he cried out: "Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?" If Paul refused to let the members of Christ be subordinated to particular human leaders -- even to the apostles themselves -- what will you say to Christ, the Head of the universal Church, at the last judgment, when you have tried to subject all his members to yourself through the title of "Universal"? Who, I ask, is the model for this wrongful title, if not the one who despised the legions of angels created alongside him and attempted to rise to a pinnacle of singular eminence, so that he might seem subject to no one and alone above all? The one who said: "I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of heaven; I will sit upon the mount of the testament, in the sides of the North; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High." For what are all your brother bishops of the universal Church but stars of heaven, whose lives and teaching shine amid the sins and errors of humanity as if amid the shades of night? When you seek to elevate yourself above them by this proud title and to trample their name beneath yours, what else are you saying but "I will exalt my throne above the stars of heaven"? Are not all the bishops together like clouds, raining down the words of preaching and shining with the light of good works? When you despise them and try to press them down under yourself, what else are you saying but what the ancient enemy said: "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds"? When I contemplate all this through tears and tremble at the hidden judgments of God, my fears multiply and my heart cannot contain its groaning -- because this most holy man, Lord John, a man of such fasting and humility, has been seduced by flattering tongues into such a pitch of pride as to attempt, by coveting that unlawful name, to imitate the one who, in proudly wishing to be like God, lost even the likeness that had been granted him, and by grasping at false glory forfeited true blessedness. Peter, the first of the apostles, was himself a member of the holy and universal Church. Paul, Andrew, John -- all were heads of particular communities. Yet all were members under one Head. To put it briefly: the saints before the Law, the saints under the Law, the saints under grace -- all these who make up the Lord's body were constituted as members of the Church, and not one of them ever wished to be called "universal." Let your Holiness recognize how far you have swollen within yourself by desiring to be called by a name that no truly holy person ever presumed to claim. Was it not the case -- as you well know -- that the prelates of this Apostolic See, which by God's providence I now serve, were offered the title of "universal" by the venerable Council of Chalcedon? Yet not one of them ever accepted it or claimed this ill-advised name, lest by seizing the glory of singularity by virtue of the pontificate, he might seem to deny it to all his brothers. I know that all this arises from those who serve you under the guise of deceitful familiarity. Guard yourself prudently against them, and do not let yourself be taken in by their words. They are your greatest enemies precisely because they flatter you with praise. Abandon them, and if they must deceive, let them deceive worldly hearts, not those of priests. "Let the dead bury their dead." But say with the prophet: "Let those be turned back and put to shame who say to me, 'Aha, aha!'" And again: "Let not the oil of the sinner anoint my head." The wise man's counsel is apt: "Be at peace with many, but let your counselor be one in a thousand." For "evil communications corrupt good manners." The ancient enemy, when unable to break into strong hearts, looks for weak associates nearby, and scales lofty walls, as it were, by leaning ladders against them. So he deceived Adam through the woman at his side. So, having slain the sons of blessed Job, he left the weak wife so that, unable to penetrate Job's heart directly, he might reach it through her words. Whatever weak and worldly people surround you, let them be shattered in their flattery, since by posing as your lovers they earn for themselves the eternal enmity of God. Truly it was proclaimed long ago through the apostle John: "Little children, it is the last hour." Now pestilence and the sword rage across the world, nations rise against nations, the earth trembles, the ground opens and swallows its inhabitants. All that was foretold has come to pass. The king of pride draws near, and -- terrible to say -- an army of priests is being marshaled for him, since those appointed as leaders in humility have enlisted under the banner of pride. But in this matter, even if I said nothing at all, the power of Him who personally and uniquely opposes the vice of pride is raised up to punish arrogance. As it is written: "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Again: "Everyone who exalts his heart is unclean before God." Against the proud it is written: "Why is earth and ashes proud?" The Truth himself says: "Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled." And to lead us back to the way of life through humility, he showed us in his own person what he teaches, saying: "Learn from me, for I am meek and lowly in heart." To this end the only-begotten Son of God took upon himself the form of our weakness; to this end the Invisible One appeared not only as visible but as despised; to this end he endured the insults of contempt, the taunts of ridicule, and the torments of suffering -- so that God in his humility might teach humanity not to be proud. How great, then, is the power of humility, for the sake of teaching which alone he who is incomparably great made himself small even to the point of death! The devil's pride was the origin of our ruin; God's humility became the means of our redemption. Our enemy, created among all things, desired to appear exalted above all things; our Redeemer, remaining great above all things, chose to become small among all things. What, then, can we bishops say for ourselves -- we who received our place of honor from the humility of our Redeemer, yet imitate the pride of the enemy himself? Our Creator descended from the heights of his glory to give honor to the human race, and we -- created from dust -- set our faces toward heaven, pass our tongues over the earth, and feel no shame or fear at being lifted up. Even we, who are corruption, and sons of men who are worms. Let us remember, dearest brother, what the wise Solomon says: "Before thunder comes lightning, and before a fall the heart is lifted up." But then: "Before glory the heart is humbled." Let us therefore be humble in mind if we wish to attain true greatness. Let the eyes of our hearts not be darkened by the smoke of self-exaltation, which the higher it rises the more quickly it vanishes. Let us remember the words of our Redeemer: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." And through the prophet: "On whom shall my spirit rest, but on the one who is humble, quiet, and who trembles at my words?" When the Lord wished to recall his disciples -- still beset by human weakness -- to the way of humility, he said: "Whoever wishes to be first among you shall be the servant of all." By this it is plain that the one who is truly exalted is the one who is humble in his own thoughts. Let us therefore fear to be numbered among those who seek the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplace and love to be called "Rabbi" by others. For the Lord says to his disciples: "Do not be called Rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father." What, then, dearest brother, will you say at that terrible scrutiny of the coming judgment, if you covet to be called in this world not merely father, but universal father? Guard against the wicked suggestions of evil men. Flee from every instigation to give offense. Offenses must come, to be sure, but woe to the one through whom they come. Because of this abominable title of pride, the Church is torn apart and the hearts of all the brothers are provoked to offense. Has it escaped your memory that the Truth says: "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a millstone hung around his neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea"? It is written: "Love does not seek its own." Yet you claim for yourself even what is not yours. Again: "In honor, prefer one another." Yet you attempt to strip all others of the honor you seek to usurp for yourself alone. Where, dearest brother, is the commandment: "Be at peace with all, and pursue holiness, without which no one will see the Lord"? Where: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God"? You must take care, lest any root of bitterness spring up and cause trouble, and many be defiled by it. Though we may neglect to take action, the judgment of heaven will not overlook such towering arrogance. As for me, against whom this grave offense is committed by this presumptuous act, I am following the Truth's instruction: "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens, you have gained your brother. But if he will not listen, take one or two others with you, so that every word may be established by two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the Church. And if he refuses to listen even to the Church, treat him as a pagan and a tax collector." I have now, through my representatives and in my own person, reproved this sin against the whole Church in humble terms. Whatever it was my duty to do in humility, I have not neglected. But if I am disregarded in my reproof, I will have no choice but to bring the matter before the Church. May Almighty God show you, brother, how great a love for you constrains me in saying these things, and how deeply I grieve in this matter -- not against you, but for you. Yet the case is such that I must place the precepts of the Gospel, the ordinances of the canons, and the welfare of the brothers above the person of even one whom I love dearly. I have received your most gracious and pleasant letter regarding the case of the presbyters John and Athanasius, about which I will reply separately with the Lord's help. Surrounded as I am by the swords of barbarians, I am now burdened with such great tribulations that I cannot, I will not say address many matters, but can scarcely even draw breath. Given on the first of January, Indiction 13.

Book V, Letter 18 To John, Bishop. Gregory to John, Bishop of Constantinople. At the time when your Fraternity was advanced to Sacerdotal dignity, you remember what peace and concord of the churches you found. But, with what daring or with what swelling of pride I know not, you have attempted to seize upon a new name, whereby the hearts of all your brethren might have come to take offense. I wonder exceedingly at this, since I remember how you would fain have fled from the episcopal office rather than attain it. And yet, now that you have got it, you desire so to exercise it as if you had run to it with ambitious intent. For, having confessed yourself unworthy to be called a bishop, you have at length been brought to such a pass as, despising your brethren, to covet to be named the only bishop. And indeed with regard to this matter, weighty letters were addressed to your Holiness by my predecessor Pelagius of holy memory; in which he annulled the acts of the synod, which had been assembled among you in the case of our once brother and fellow bishop Gregory, because of that execrable title of pride, and forbade the archdeacon whom he had sent according to custom to the threshold of our lord, to celebrate the solemnities of mass with you. But after his death, when I, unworthy, succeeded to the government of the Church, both through my other representatives and also through our common son the deacon Sabinianus, I have taken care to address your Fraternity, not indeed in writing, but by word of mouth, desiring you to restrain yourself from such presumption. And, in case of your refusing to amend, I forbade his celebrating the solemnities of mass with you; that so I might first appeal to your Holiness through a certain sense of shame, to the end that, if the execrable and profane assumption could not be corrected through shame, strict canonical measures might be then resorted to. And, since sores that are to be cut away should first be stroked with a gentle hand, I beg you, I beseech you, and with all the sweetness in my power demand of you, that your Fraternity gainsay all who flatter you and offer you this name of error, nor foolishly consent to be called by the proud title. For truly I say it weeping, and out of inmost sorrow of heart attribute it to my sins, that this my brother, who has been constituted in the grade of episcopacy for the very end of bringing back the souls of others to humility, has up to the present time been incapable of being brought back to humility; that he who teaches truth to others has not consented to teach himself, even when I implore him. Consider, I pray you, that in this rash presumption the peace of the whole Church is disturbed, and that it is in contradiction to the grace that is poured out on all in common; in which grace doubtless you yourself will have power to grow so far as you determine with yourself to do so. And you will become by so much the greater as you restrain yourself from the usurpation of a proud and foolish title: and you will make advance in proportion as you are not bent on arrogation by derogation of your brethren. Wherefore, dearest brother, with all your heart love humility, through which the concord of all the brethren and the unity of the holy universal Church may be preserved. Certainly the apostle Paul, when he heard some say, I am of Paul, I of Apollos, but I of Christ 1 Corinthians 1:13, regarded with the utmost horror such dilaceration of the Lord's body, whereby they were joining themselves, as it were, to other heads, and exclaimed, saying, Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul (ib.)? If then he shunned the subjecting of the members of Christ partially to certain heads, as if beside Christ, though this were to the apostles themselves, what will you say to Christ, who is the Head of the universal Church, in the scrutiny of the last judgment, having attempted to put all his members under yourself by the appellation of Universal? Who, I ask, is proposed for imitation in this wrongful title but he who, despising the legions of angels constituted socially with himself, attempted to start up to an eminence of singularity, that he might seem to be under none and to be alone above all? Who even said, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of heaven: I will sit upon the mount of the testament, in the sides of the North: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High Isaiah 14:13. For what are all your brethren, the bishops of the universal Church, but stars of heaven, whose life and discourse shine together amid the sins and errors of men, as if amid the shades of night? And when you desire to put yourself above them by this proud title, and to tread down their name in comparison with yours, what else do you say but I will ascend into heaven; I will exalt my throne above the stars of heaven? Are not all the bishops together clouds, who both rain in the words of preaching, and glitter in the light of good works? And when your Fraternity despises them, and you would fain press them down under yourself, what else say you but what is said by the ancient foe, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds? All these things when I behold with tears, and tremble at the hidden judgments of God, my fears are increased, and my heart cannot contain its groans, for that this most holy man the lord John, of so great abstinence and humility, has, through the seduction of familiar tongues, broken out into such a pitch of pride as to attempt, in his coveting of that wrongful name, to be like him who, while proudly wishing to be like God, lost even the grace of the likeness granted him, and because he sought false glory, thereby forfeited true blessedness. Certainly Peter, the first of the apostles, himself a member of the holy and universal Church, Paul, Andrew, John, — what were they but heads of particular communities? And yet all were members under one Head. And (to bind all together in a short girth of speech) the saints before the law, the saints under the law, the saints under grace, all these making up the Lord's Body, were constituted as members of the Church, and not one of them has wished himself to be called universal. Now let your Holiness acknowledge to what extent you swell within yourself in desiring to be called by that name by which no one presumed to be called who was truly holy. Was it not the case, as your Fraternity knows, that the prelates of this Apostolic See which by the providence of God I serve, had the honour offered them of being called universal by the venerable Council of Chalcedon. But yet not one of them has ever wished to be called by such a title, or seized upon this ill-advised name, lest if, in virtue of the rank of the pontificate, he took to himself the glory of singularity, he might seem to have denied it to all his brethren. But I know that all arises from those who serve your Holiness on terms of deceitful familiarity; against whom I beseech your Fraternity to be prudently on your guard, and not to lay yourself open to be deceived by their words. For they are to be accounted the greater enemies the more they flatter you with praises. Forsake such; and, if they must needs deceive, let them at any rate deceive the hearts of worldly men, and not of priests. Let the dead bury their dead Luke 9:60. But say with the prophet, Let them be turned back and put to shame that say unto me, Aha, Aha Psalm 69:4. And again, But let not the oil of the sinner lard my head Psalm 140:5. Whence also the wise man admonishes well, Be in peace with many: but have but one counsellor of a thousand Sirach 6:6. For Evil communications corrupt good manners 1 Corinthians 15:33. For the ancient foe, when unable to break into strong hearts, looks out for weak persons who are associated with them, and, as it were, scales lofty walls by ladders set against them. So he deceived Adam through the woman who was associated with him. So, when he slew the sons of the blessed Job, he left the weak woman, that, being unable of himself to penetrate his heart, he might at any rate be able to do so through the woman's words. Whatever weak and secular persons, then, are near you, let them be shattered in their own persuasive words and flattery, since they procure to themselves the eternal enmity of God from their very frowardness in being seeming lovers. Of a truth it was proclaimed of old through the Apostle John, Little children, it is the last hour 1 John 2:18, according as the Truth foretold. And now pestilence and sword rage through the world, nations rise against nations, the globe of the earth is shaken, the gaping earth with its inhabitants is dissolved. For all that was foretold has come to pass. The king of pride is near, and (awful to be said!) there is an army of priests in course of preparation for him, inasmuch as they who had been appointed to be leaders in humility enlist themselves under the neck of pride. But in this matter, even though our tongue protested not at all, the power of Him who in His own person peculiarly opposes the vice of pride is lifted up for vengeance against elation. For hence it is written, God resists the proud, but gives grace unto the humble James 4:6. Hence, again, it is said, Whoever exalts his heart is unclean before God Proverbs 16:5. Hence, against the man that is proud it is written, Why is earth and ashes proud Sirach 10:9? Hence the Truth in person says, Whosoever exalts himself shall be abased Luke 14:11. And, that he might bring us back to the way of life through humility, He deigned to exhibit in Himself what He teaches us, saying, Learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart Matthew 11:29. For to this end the only begotten Son of God took upon Himself the form of our weakness; to this end the Invisible appeared not only as visible but even as despised; to this end He endured the mocks of contumely, the reproaches of derision, the torments of suffering; that God in His humility might teach man not to be proud. How great, then, is the virtue of humility for the sake of teaching which alone He who is great beyond compare became little even unto the suffering of death! For, since the pride of the devil was the origin of our perdition, the humility of God has been found the means of our redemption. That is to say, our enemy, having been created among all things, desired to appear exalted above all things; but our Redeemer remaining great above all things, deigned to become little among all things. What, then, can we bishops say for ourselves, who have received a place of honour from the humility of our Redeemer, and yet imitate the pride of the enemy himself? Lo, we know our Creator to have descended from the summit of His loftiness that He might give glory to the human race, and we, created of the lowest, glory in the lessening of our brethren. God humbled Himself even to our dust; and human dust sets his face as high as heaven, and with his tongue passes above the earth, and blushes not, neither is afraid to be lifted up: even man who is rottenness, and the son of man that is a worm. Let us recall to mind, most dear brother, this which is said by the most wise Solomon. Before thunder shall go lightning, and before ruin shall the heart be exalted Sirach 32:10; where, on the other hand it is subjoined, Before glory it shall be humbled. Let us then be humbled in mind, if we are striving to attain to real loftiness. By no means let the eyes of our heart be darkened by the smoke of elation, which the more it rises the more rapidly vanishes away. Let us consider how we are admonished by the precepts of our Redeemer, who says, Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven Matthew 5:3. Hence, also, he says by the prophet, On whom shall my Spirit rest, but on him that is humble, and quiet, and that trembles at my words Isaiah 66:2? Of a truth, when the Lord would bring back the hearts of His disciples, still beset with infirmity, to the way of humility, He said, Whosoever will be chief among you shall be least of all Matthew 20:27. Whereby it is plainly seen how he is truly exalted on high who in his thoughts is humbled. Let us, therefore, fear to be numbered among those who seek the first seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the market, and to be called of men Rabbi. For, contrariwise, the Lord says to His disciples, But be not called Rabbi: for one is your master; and all you are brethren. And call no man your Father upon the earth, for one is your Father Matthew 23:7-8. What then, dearest brother, will you say in that terrible scrutiny of the coming judgment, if you covet to be called in the world not only father, but even general father? Let, then, the bad suggestion of evil men be guarded against; let all instigation to offense be fled from. It must needs be (indeed) that offenses come; nevertheless, woe to that man by whom the offense comes Matthew 18:7. Lo, by reason of this execrable title of pride the Church is rent asunder, the hearts of all the brethren are provoked to offense. What! Has it escaped your memory how the Truth says, Whoever shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a mill stone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea (Ib. 5:6)? But it is written, Charity seeks not her own 1 Corinthians 13:4. Lo, your Fraternity arrogates to itself even what is not its own. Again it is written, In honour preferring one another Romans 12:10. And you attempt to take the honour away from all which you desire unlawfully to usurp to yourself singularly. Where, dearest brother, is that which is written, Have peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord Hebrews 12:14? Where is that which is written, Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God Matthew 5:9? It becomes you to consider, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled. But still, though we neglect to consider, supernal judgment will be on the watch against the swelling of so great elation. And we indeed, against whom such and so great a fault is committed by this nefarious attempt — we, I say, are observing what the Truth enjoins when it says, If your brother shall sin against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he shall hear you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear you, take with you one or two more, that in the mouth of one or two witnesses every word may be established. But if he will not hear them, tell it unto the Church. But if he will not hear the Church, let him be to you as an heathen man and a publican Matthew 18:15. I therefore have once and again through my representatives taken care to reprove in humble words this sin against the whole Church; and now I write myself. Whatever it was my duty to do in the way of humility I have not omitted. But, if I am despised in my reproof, it remains that I must have recourse to the Church. Wherefore may Almighty God show your Fraternity how great love for you constrains me when I thus speak, and how much I grieve in this case, not against you, but for you. But the case is such that in it I must prefer the precepts of the Gospel, the ordinances of the Canons, and the welfare of the brethren to the person even of him whom I greatly love. I have received the most sweet and pleasant letter of your Holiness with respect to the case of the presbyters John and Athanasius , about which, the Lord helping me, I will reply to you in another letter; for, being surrounded by the swords of barbarians, I am now oppressed by such great tribulations that it is not allowed me, I will not say to treat of many things, but hardly even to breathe. Given in the Kalends of January; Indiction 13. About this page Source. Translated by James Barmby. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 12. 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