Letter 6044: Although there may have been cause to provoke the spirit of your Fraternity not unreasonably to anger, so that you would neither receive the offerings of the Lord Venantius nor allow the sacred solemnities of mass to be celebrated in his house, yet, inasmuch as our earthly interests should be prosecuted in such a manner that no quarrel may avail...
Gregory to John, Bishop of Syracuse.
Although there may have been reason enough to move your Fraternity's spirit to anger — so that you would neither accept the offerings of the lord Venantius nor permit the solemn mysteries of Mass to be celebrated in his house — yet since our earthly concerns must be managed in such a way that no quarrel can succeed in severing us from the bond of charity, we therefore urge your Holiness, as we have already written, to receive this man's offerings with all gracious and God-pleasing sincerity, and to allow the sacred mysteries to be performed in his house. As we have written, if he should wish it, you should go there in person and, by celebrating Mass with him, renew your former good relationship. For it is your duty to extend priestly affection to those who are your sons — while nonetheless, in any matters that may arise requiring it, by no means abandoning, as right reason approves, the jurisdiction of your church.
Taking this into account, it is necessary that your Fraternity endeavor to conduct yourself in these matters with discerning moderation: both handling what the circumstances of the case require to your advantage, and not withdrawing from the grace of fatherly charity.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
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