Letter 1051: Gregory to all monks established on the island of Monte Cristo [a small island off the Tuscan coast with a monastic...
Gregory to all monks established on the island of Monte Cristo [a small island off the Tuscan coast with a monastic community].
It has come to our attention that certain monks in your community are behaving irregularly — departing from the discipline of their rule and refusing the authority of Abbot Horosius, who has been lawfully appointed over you.
This must stop. A monastic community that does not submit to its abbot's authority is not properly a monastery — it is merely a group of individuals sharing a location. The whole point of the monastic life is the submission of the individual will to the common good as directed by the abbot; this is not an incidental feature but the heart of the institution.
I therefore direct all of you to obey Abbot Horosius in all things pertaining to the regular life. If you have genuine grievances against him, these may be brought to the attention of the bishop with proper oversight of your community, who will examine them according to canonical procedure. You may not use those grievances as justification for disobedience in the meantime.
Obey. And if obedience is difficult, remember that it is precisely in the difficulty that the virtue lies.
Gregory
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
AD UNIVERSOS MONACHOS IN CHRISTI MONTE INSULA
CONSTITUTOS.
Abnormes illos monachos H orosio abbati obedire jubet.
Gregorius universis monachis * in Christi monte
insula constitutis, |
EersT. L (Al. 48). — * Sic legitur in omnibus Va-
tic., Norm., etc. In vet. Ed. ex Eumorphiana con-
flatum ect Orphiana. Tandem in recenlioribus legi-
tur Orphiaria, quam insulam esse parvam Tyrrheni
maris, non longe a Palmaria et Ponlia, Gus-anvil-
leus ait. Ex Eumorphiane situ conjicimus illam ip-
Sam esse insulam, qua? nune 8ancle Marie ivsula
dicitur. De monachis eam incolentibus ad Anthe-
mium Campanie rectorem scribitur, quod, uti et
Palmaria, Campaniz liuttori objaceret.
© Hzc lex qui cavet ve pueri ante decem et oclo
annos jn monasleriis recipiantur, de itlarum insula-
rum monasterbs tantum inteſlligitur, ut l-egenti Sta-
um patevit. line regule sanct Benedicti puerorum
Inſra hos annos admissivnem permittent} ſrustra op-
ponitur hc probibitio.
C |nsula eliamn paryva maris Tyrrheni contra Toer-
racinam, - ab ea Circiter xxxvit mill. (Gisins. Has
A Pervenit ad nos nulla vos monachicz regula: pre»
cepla cusltodire : pro qna re -compulsi 8umus pre-
sentis precepti portitorem Horosium abbatem ad
vos dirigere, ut omnia acta vesira 6ubliliter exqui-
rens, quzque ei recta ſuerint visa disponal, el nobis
quze ab eo ordinata ſuerint renuntiet. Proinde ad-
monemus ut omnem ei obedientiam prebealis; et
quidquid disposuerit, velut a me dispositum, cum
debita reverentia cuslodite.
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