Letter 4049
Gregory the Great (Wisigothic)→Unknown|gregory great
From: Gregory the Great, Pope, in Rome
To: Palladius, bishop
Date: ~594 AD
Context: Gregory sends relics for the dedication of four altars.
Gregory to Palladius, bishop.
For the dedication of the four altars in your church, I am sending the relics you require. They are to be installed in the altars with appropriate ceremony and reverence.
The dedication of altars with relics connects the local church to the broader communion of saints and to the universal church that venerates them. Do not treat this as a mere formality. The relics represent the witness of those who gave their lives for the faith; their installation in your altars is a statement about the kind of community you are and the tradition you stand in.
Conduct the ceremony with care.
Gregory
AD PALLADIUM EPISCOPUM.
Mittit reliquias ad dedicationem quatuor affarmm in
basilica quam Palladius construxerat.
Gregorius Palladio * episcopo Santonis > Galliz.
Veniens lator praesentium Leuparicus presbyter
' vester inSinuavit nobis ſraternitatem vestram eccle-
Siam in honorem beati Petri et Pauli apostolorum,
necnon Laurentii aique Pancratii martyrum con-
struxisse, aique illic tredecim altaria © collocasse ,.
ex quibus quatuor necdum dedicala comperimus re-
mansisse, ob hoc quod suprascriptorum $anctorunr
reliquias iilic collocare Deo annuente disponitis. Ee
quia reliquias sanctorum Petri et Pauli, necnon Lau-
rentii atque Pancratii martyrum cum veneralione
priebuimus, hortamur ut eas cum reverentia $Susci-
pere , et collocare, auxiliante Domino, debeatis
provisuri ante omnia ut 4 servientibus ibidens non
debeant alimoniarum deesse suffragia ©.
provincie caput. Restituimus titulum ex Mss. Col-
bert.,. VYatic., Norm. In Yulgatis autem legitur epi-
. $C0po de Santonibus.,
© In Vatic. B et nonnvullis legitur, duodecim alta-
ria. Allare unicum intra singulas ecclesias habent
Gr#ci, ut observat Card. Bona de Rebus liturgicis,
I. 1, cap. 14, n. 3. Aliam Latinorum consuetudin-m
oslendit hzc Gregorii Mag. epist., ved et Ambrosius
epist, 20, ad Marcelli-am $sororem, n. 2, scribens
de pace a Valentiniano Catholicis data : Nec mora,.
inquit, nuntialur imperatorem jussis8e ut recederent
milites de basilica...... certatim hoc nuntiare milites
irruentes in altaria, osculis 8ignificare pacis insigne..
Rationem redvit Baronius, cur plura quandoque wdi-
ficarentur allaria : Erant, inquit, sepulcra mariyruns
allaria, et ubi condebaniur martyres, allare consueve-
ral erigi. 1d conslat ex Prudentio lib. tpi Erepavwy,
hym. 5, 4, 5; saucto Auguslino, 8erm. 5 de >aucto»
Stephano, lib. viu de Civitale, cap. 27; Gregorio
Turon., Hist. lib. v, c. 49 ; lib. 1 de Gloria marty-
rum, Cc. 35 et 91; Paulino, Poem. 4. Imo ex ejusdem
Paulin epist. 52, nove Edit., certum est illus jam-
zlate Super sepulcra et reliquias cunſes<orum altaria-
ſuisse condita. In capitular. 1 Caroli Mag., an. 8U5S,
n. 6, caveiur de altaribus ut uvn superabundent iw
ecclesii>,
* Gall., ass28stance. Suffragor per translationew ,
◆
From: Gregory the Great, Pope, in Rome
To: Palladius, bishop
Date: ~594 AD
Context: Gregory sends relics for the dedication of four altars.
Gregory to Palladius, bishop.
For the dedication of the four altars in your church, I am sending the relics you require. They are to be installed in the altars with appropriate ceremony and reverence.
The dedication of altars with relics connects the local church to the broader communion of saints and to the universal church that venerates them. Do not treat this as a mere formality. The relics represent the witness of those who gave their lives for the faith; their installation in your altars is a statement about the kind of community you are and the tradition you stand in.
Conduct the ceremony with care.
Gregory
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.