Letter 1004: Gregory to John, Bishop of Constantinople. If the virtue of charity consists in the love of one's neighbour, and we are commanded to love our neighbours as ourselves, how is it that your Blessedness does not love me even as yourself? For I know with what ardour, with what anxiety, you wished to fly from the burden of the episcopate; and yet you ...
Gregory to John, Bishop of Constantinople.
If the essence of charity is love of neighbor, and we are commanded to love our neighbors as ourselves, then how is it, Your Blessedness, that you do not love me as you love yourself? I know how passionately, how anxiously, you sought to escape the burden of the episcopate -- and yet you raised no objection when that same burden was imposed on me. Clearly, then, you do not love me as yourself, since you wished me to shoulder a load you were unwilling to bear.
But since I -- unworthy and weak as I am -- have now taken charge of an old and badly battered ship (waves pour in from every side, and the planks, pounded by relentless daily storms, groan with the sound of shipwreck), I beg you by Almighty God: stretch out the hand of your prayer to me in my peril. You can pray all the more freely because you stand at a distance from the chaos of the tribulations that engulf us here.
I will send my synodical letter with all possible speed. I dispatched our brother and fellow bishop Bacauda as the bearer of this letter immediately after my ordination, even while pressed by many urgent matters.
Human translation — New Advent (NPNF / ANF series)
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