Letter 5002: The tenor of the report submitted to you sufficiently explains the complaint of the religious lady Theodosia, in which we have found on reading it many heads of accusation, not befitting priestly gentleness, against our brother and fellow bishop Januarius; so much so that, after the foundation by her of a monastery for servants of God, all that ...
Pope Gregory the Great→Felix, of Messana (Messene)|c. 594 AD|gregory great
monasticism
Military conflict
Gregory to Felix, Bishop, and Cyriacus, Abbot.
The report submitted to you makes sufficiently clear the complaint of the religious lady Theodosia, in which we found -- upon reading it -- many accusations against our brother and fellow bishop Januarius that are unbecoming of priestly gentleness. It appears that after her foundation of a monastery for servants of God, everything associated with greed, disorder, and injustice was on display at the very dedication of the oratory.
If the case is as described in her report, and if you are aware of any additional improprieties that have been committed, I urge you first to see that all wrongs are redressed, then to press upon Musicus, the abbot of the monastery of Agilitanus, to devote his immediate and full attention to settling the monks he had begun to establish there. Let this venerable place be put in order by you -- with the Lord's help -- in a decent and proper manner, so that we are not disturbed by the frequent complaints of this religious woman that her good intentions go unfulfilled, and so that the neglect of so pious an undertaking -- which we trust will not occur -- does not fall on your souls.
Book V, Letter 2
To Felix, Bishop, and Cyriacus, Abbot.
Gregory to Felix, etc.
The tenor of the report submitted to you sufficiently explains the complaint of the religious lady Theodosia, in which we have found on reading it many heads of accusation, not befitting priestly gentleness, against our brother and fellow bishop Januarius; so much so that, after the foundation by her of a monastery for servants of God, all that pertains to avarice, turbulence, and wrong is said to have been exhibited at the time of the very dedication of the oratory. Wherefore, if the case is as we find in her aforesaid representation, and if you are aware that anything at all unbecoming has been committed besides, we exhort you that, all wrongs having first been redressed, you press upon Musicus, the abbot of the monastery of Agilitanus , that he lose no time in giving the greatest attention to his monks whom he had began to settle there, to the end that, this venerable place being with the Lord's help set in order by you in a decent and regular manner, neither may we be disturbed by the frequent complaints of the aforesaid religious lady that her good desires are not fulfilled, nor may it be to the detriment of your soul that so pious a design should languish, as we do not believe it will, through any neglect of yours.
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Source. Translated by James Barmby. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 12. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1895.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/360205002.htm>.
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Gregory to Felix, Bishop, and Cyriacus, Abbot.
The report submitted to you makes sufficiently clear the complaint of the religious lady Theodosia, in which we found -- upon reading it -- many accusations against our brother and fellow bishop Januarius that are unbecoming of priestly gentleness. It appears that after her foundation of a monastery for servants of God, everything associated with greed, disorder, and injustice was on display at the very dedication of the oratory.
If the case is as described in her report, and if you are aware of any additional improprieties that have been committed, I urge you first to see that all wrongs are redressed, then to press upon Musicus, the abbot of the monastery of Agilitanus, to devote his immediate and full attention to settling the monks he had begun to establish there. Let this venerable place be put in order by you -- with the Lord's help -- in a decent and proper manner, so that we are not disturbed by the frequent complaints of this religious woman that her good intentions go unfulfilled, and so that the neglect of so pious an undertaking -- which we trust will not occur -- does not fall on your souls.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.