Letter 1045

From: Pope Gregory I To: All Bishops Throughout Illyricum Date: ~591 AD Context: Gregory orders bishops to receive colleagues expelled by enemy invasions and provide for their needs The barbarian invasions that continue to afflict Illyricum have produced a particular tragedy that I must address: bishops driven from their sees, wandering without resources, without community, without the basic means of life. This is a pastoral emergency, and I write to you collectively to demand a response equal to the emergency. Every bishop of Illyricum who is in a position to receive a colleague expelled by the enemy must do so. Provide them with what they need — food, shelter, the dignity of their office — and keep me informed of who is in your care. We are one body, and when part of it is in extremity, the whole body must respond.

AD UNIVERSOS EPISCOPO3 PER ILLYRICUM, Ut episcopos ab hostibus expulsos snzscipiant, eisque ne- cessaria submanialrent. Gregorius uniyersis episcopis per I!lyricum. Jobinus excellentissimns vir, filius noster, priae- posilus per Illyricum, scriptis $9#is nobis indicasse dignoscitur, ad $e sacris apicibus destinatis, jussum ſuisse episcopos quos e Ppropriis locis hostilitatis furor expulerat ad eos episeopos qui nunec nsque in locis propriis degunt pro sustentatione et stipendiis pre- senlis vile es8e jungendos. Et licet ad hoc fraterni- tatem veslram jussio principalis admonem, habemus tamen inajus his pratceptum Z#terni principis, quo at bee terribilius per2genda compellimur, ut non dico fratres et coepiscopos nostres, 8&d ips0s etiam, quos nobis contrarios patimur, cum opportunitas postulat, in conferendis $ubsidiis necessitatam carnali'um, d li- gamus. Oportet ergo vos ad hane rem et celesti pri- milus principi obedientes existere, et imperialibns eltiam jus$Sionibus consentire, qualtenus fratres coe- piscoposque nostros, quos captivitatis diversarumque necessilatum anguslize comprimwunt, debeatis co0130- landos convivendosque vobiscum in ecclesiaslicis Sn>(entationibus libenter $ascipere. Non quidem ut per communionem episcopalis throni diguitas divi- datur, 8d ut ab Eccle>ia * juxta possibilitatem suſſi- cientia debeant alimenta percipere. Sic enim et proxi mum in Deo, et Deum in proximo diligere compro- bainur. Nullam quippe eis nos in veslris Ecclesiis auctoritatem tribuimus, sed tamen eos vestris solati!s contineri summopere hortamur. Mense Þ Junii, in- dictione nona. (Cf. Joan. biac. l. 1, c. 16.) 5841 EPISTOLA XLYTL. AD PETRUM SUBDIACONUM. Ut Godiscalchi filio inopi et ceco ad viclum necessd- ria suppedite!, precipil. Gregorius Petro $ubdiacono. Divina pr.ecepla nos adiuonent diligere proximos sicut nosme: ips0s * et cum hac eos preeipiamur cha- ritate diligere, quanto magis debemus his in subs1- diis necessilatum carnalium $subvenire, ut eor:M angastias,” $i non ex omnibus, saltem aliquihus Eveisr. XLV (A4/. 45). — * In Valgatis, juzta poest- bilitatem $ufficien ti. Iu nul is Codd. inss. hes occurrerunt, $i Turn. S. Gat. et Culbert. vet. excipias, in quo tamei Uu- bium, ulrum ad presentem epi>ivlam, an ad Sequen- tem 46 isia pertineant. 509 EPISTOLARUM LIB. 1. — INDICT. IX. — EPIST, XLYI.. 510 stentaculis Sublevemus. Quoniam ergv * Godiscalchi viri dignissimi filium non solum amissione visus, sed eliam inopia victus egestatem pali conSpeximus, ne- cessarium duximus, in quayutum possibilitas Suppe- lit, ei przbere consultum. Propterea experientiz lum. presenti jussione precipimus ut annis singulis viginti quatuor modios tritici, ſabz qguoque modios duode- cim, et viniÞ decimatas viginti pro sustentativne vitze debeat ministrare, quod luis posltmodum possit rationibus imputari. la ergo fac ut prisentivm lator nullas de percipiendis Domini donis moras suslineat, et tu bene dispensate mercedis possis pariiceps in- veniri. (Cf. Joan. Diae. l. n, c. 55.)