Letter 12006: The monastery that was governed by the late Abbot Claudius must not be left without proper leadership.

Monks coming from the monastery of the late Abbot Claudius requested that the monk Constantius ought to be appointed abbot over them. But I strongly detested them in this petition of theirs, because they appeared to me in every way to be of an earthly mind, men who sought to have for their abbot a man who was excessively earthly. For I have learned that this same Constantius is devoted to private property [holding goods of his own], a thing which most of all bears witness that he does not have the heart of a monk. And then I learned that he presumed to set out alone, without any of his brethren, to the monastery which is situated in the province of Picenum; from which action of his we recognize that one who walks without a witness does not live rightly: or in what way would he hold the Rule for others, which he himself does not know how to hold? Departing therefore from this man, they requested a certain cellarer named Maurus, to whose life and diligence many bear witness, since indeed the late Abbot Claudius too once praised him in the presence of certain persons. Let your Experience [the addressee] therefore carefully inquire, and, if his life is worthy of the place of governance, [let him be ordained] by our most reverend brother and fellow bishop Marinianus. Let your Experience therefore act in such a way that neither the ordination of the place be delayed nor any complaint about this matter come to us further. Moreover, since that same most dear son of mine, the late Claudius, had heard certain things while I was speaking about the Proverbs, about the Song of Songs, about the Prophets, about the books of Kings also, and about the Heptateuch [the first seven books of Scripture], things which I was unable to set down in writing on account of my infirmity, he himself composed these in his own understanding, lest they perish by forgetfulness, so that at a fitting time he might bring these same things to me and they might be dictated in a more corrected form. And when he had read them to me, I found the sense of my own words to have been very harmfully altered. Whence it is necessary that your Experience, with all excuse and delay ceasing, go to his monastery, cause the brethren to be assembled, and that under all truth they bring forth into the midst however many little papers of various Scripture he carried off; these you are to receive and transmit to me most quickly. Concerning your return, however, since we have learned that you have incurred very great trouble, we are giving thought to it, God being favorable, in what follows. But that which has been brought to me by the report of certain persons, namely that my most reverend brother and fellow bishop Marinianus is having the commentary on blessed Job read publicly at the vigils, I have not received gladly, because that work is not for the common people and generates for untrained hearers a hindrance rather than an advancement. But tell him to have the commentary on the Psalms read at the vigils, which especially instruct the minds of worldly people toward good morals. For I do not wish, while I am in this flesh, that, if it has happened that I said anything, these things become easily known to people. For since Anatolius, deacon of most beloved memory, gave the book of the Pastoral Rule to the lord emperor, who sought and commanded it, I received it ill; which book my most holy brother and fellow bishop Anastasius of Antioch translated into the Greek language; and, as has been written to me, it pleased him very much, but it displeased me very much, that those who have better things should be occupied with the least things. In the third part of blessed Job, however, at that verse in which it is written: "I know that my Redeemer lives" [Job 19:25], I suspect that the aforesaid brother and fellow bishop of mine, Marinianus, has a faulty manuscript. For in our archive this same passage is found otherwise than I have learned this passage to be in the manuscripts of others; and therefore I have had the same passage reviewed, so that, just as it is in our archive, so also this same oft-mentioned brother of mine may have it. For there are four words which, if they should be lacking in that passage, can generate no small scruple for the reader. Carry out all these things subtly and quickly; and if with the most excellent exarch you can do nothing, at least let you not seem to have neglected these things which you can do. Moreover, some time ago we had instructed your Experience to act with our most eminent son the prefect, so that, through the care of the public posting-stations [formae], something might be done to repair them. For these posting-stations are so despised and neglected that, unless greater solicitude be applied, within a short time they will perish altogether. Just as therefore you know how necessary the matter is and how useful to the general public, so you must take pains that, as we have said, they be committed by all means to the aforesaid man on account of his solicitude. In the month of February, in the fifth indiction.

Venientes monachi monasterii quondam* abbatis** Claudii* pctiverunt sibi Con- stantium^ monachum abbatem debcrc constitui. Quos valdc cgo in sua pctitione detestatus sum, quia mihi terrenae mentis esse omni modo apparuerunt, qui terrenum nimis^ hominem abbatem habere quaesiverunt. Cognovi enim, quod isdem Constantius® peculiaritati ^ studcat: quac rcs maximc testatur eum cor monachi non habcrc. Ac deinde cognovi, quia ad nionastcrium, quod in Piccni provincia situm cst, solus pergcre sine aliquo fratrum suorum pracsumpsit; cx qua eius actionc cognoscimus, quia qui sine teste ambulat rccte non vivat: aut quo modo aliis rcgulam tencat, quam sibimct- ipsi* nescit tenere*^? luque tuum om. q* 1. ") et add. q. v) celesti RI.qI. et q1. h^b q 1. q* 1. XII,6 in tittdo: llavennati Rl.R*1: Kavennatis R2; Ravan q1; Raven q*1.4; Ravonnae ^.9. ») quod Rl. *>) abbati Rl. Constantinum R2.q3. nimis am. q3. ®) Constantinus q3. ') ex peculiaritate corr. q1; peculiaritatis R1.q*1. «) ipse R2. XII, 6. De lohamie cf. ep. XI, 16 n. 1) De Claudio, abbate mon. SS. Idfiannis et Stcjih^mi in CUusitana civitate cf. ep. 11,45 p. 146 n. 2; ultimo in e^). IX, 179 commetnoratHr. — De abbatis electione cf. ep. VIII, 17. 2) Cf Reg. S. Bened. c. 33 et S. BasaH c. 29. GBEGORII L REGISTRI Ab hoc igitur rccedentcs cellerarium*» quendam nomine Maurum petivemnt, cuius vitae atque industriae multa^ testificantur, quia et^ quondam* abbas Claudius eum quibusdam laudabat. Tua itaquc experientia sollicite requirat et, si eius vita ad locum regiminis digna est, a reverentissimo fratre et coepiscopo nostro™ Mariniano*^ hunc Ita igitur tua experientia faciat, ut^ neque loci ordinatio diffcratur neque ad nos ulterius hac de re querella perveniat. Praeterea quia* isdem carissimus quondam^ filius meus Claudius aUqua me loqucnte' de proverbiis, de canticis canticorum, dc prophetis*, dc libris quoque regum et de cptatico^ audierat^ quae ego scripto tradcre prae infirmitate non potui, ipse ea^ suo sensu dictavit, nc oblivionc deperirent, ut apto tempore haec eadem^ mihi inferret et emendatius dictarentur. Quae cum mihi legisset®, inveni dictorum meorum' sensum valde inutilius fuisse permutatum. Undc necesse est, ut tua experientia omni excusatione atque mora cessante ad eius monasterium^ accedat, convenire fratres faciat et^ sub omni veritate, quantascumque* de diversis scripturae^ cartulas detulit, ad medium deducant^, quas tu suscipe et mihi celerrime transmittc. De tuo autem reditu, quia molestiam te™ valde" incurrisse cognovimus, Deo pro- pitio in subsequenti^ cogitamus. Illud autem quod ad me^ quorundam relatione perlatum est, quia rcvcrentissimus frater et coepiscopus meus Marinianus^ legi commenta beati lob' publicc ad vigilias' faciat, non grate suscepi, quia non est illud opus populare et rudibus auditoribus impedimentum magis quam provcctum generat. Sed dic ci, ut commenta psalmorum legi ad vigiUas faciat, quae mcntcs saecularium ad bonos mores praecipue informent. Neque enim volo, dum in hac came sum', si qua dixisse me contigit, ea facilo hominibus innotesci. Nam quia dilectissimae memoriao Anatolius^ diaconus® quaerenti ac iubenti" domno imperatori librum regulae pastoralis^ dcdit, aegre suscepi; quem sanctissimus 1*) cellarariura R],q3. *) mnMi Bl. et om. B2. quoddam Rl.gl, sed corr. q J. ™) uostro oni. q3. °) Mariauo R2; Mauriniauo q*]. siu Rl. v) om. hoc verb, Rl; ut q1. 4) in possiut corr. q1; posit q3. ') abbas add. q3. mundari Q.Q*» ^) peculiaritatis q1.q*1, aed corr. q1. ") caritatis Q*l. ^) disp. q*1. ^) ut om. Rl. «) quia oni. q*1. J) quod Rl. 3) Nota papam quasi arbitrum de dectione abbatis esse, quem episcopus RaventMS ordinaiurus est. 4) Ex his scriptis expositiones in librum primum Begum et explanatio cantici oanticorum ad nos per- venerunt. De quibus dubitatur, tUrum vere Chregoriana opera an a Claudio abbcUe transformaJta an omnino falsa sint: cf. praefat, Maurin. in comm. in l. I Beffum et Lau 1.1. p,319s8. 5) De hoc opere cf. ep. V, 53^. Lau l.l p. 311 ss. 6) De Anatolioy qui Constantinopoli apocrisiarius fuercU, cf, ep. Vlly 27 p, 474 n. 6. 7) De hoc libro cf. ep. I, 24^ n. Cf. praefationetn 3Iaurinorum in Begulam pastoralem. Lan 1. 1. p. 316 s. frater et coepiscopus meus Anastasius Antiochenus^ in graeca lingua transtulit; ef^, sicut mihi scriptum est, ei yalde placuit, sed mihi yalde' displicuit, ut qui meliora habent in minimis occupentur. In parte autem tertia beati lob in eo yersu in quo scriptum est : ^Scio , quod lob 19, 95. i redemptor meus vivat^ suspicor, quia praedictus frater et coepiscopus meus Marinianus^ mendosum codicem habeat. Nam in scrinio^ nostro isdem locus aliter habetur, quam hunc in aliorum codicibus esse cognovi; atque ideo eundem locum relevari feci, ut, sicut in scrinio nostro est, ita quoque hunc et saepe fatus' frater meus habeat. Quattuor enim verba sunt*, quae, si eidem loco defuerint, non modicum possunt*^ lectori scrupu- 10 lum* generare. Haec omnia suptiliter et celeriter exequere; ot si apud excellentissi- mum exarchum^® nihil potes*^, vel hacc non videaris neglexisse quae potes. Praeterea ante aliquantum temporis experientiae tuae praeceperamus, ut apud 1» eminentissimum filium nostrum praefectum ageret, quatenus cura formarum committi so aliquid^ in eas valeat reparare. Nam sic despiciuntur^' atque ncglegimtur formae ipsae, ut, nisi maior sollicitudo fuerit, intra^^ paucum tempus omnino depercant. Sicut ergo nosti, quam' necessaria causa sit et generalitati * utilis, sic^ studendum tibi est, ut praedicto, sicut dixinius, viro pro sua sollicitudine modis omnibus committantur". MENSE FEBRUARIO INDICTIONE V.