Letter 27: to God promissa are ualeant adimpleri.

Pope Pelagius I to the addressee. What is vowed to God must be capable of fulfillment. For the conditions of monastic and official life are entirely different from one another. Monastic life consists of quiet, prayer, and manual labor, while the office of church defender involves lawsuits, negotiations, transactions, public disputes, and whatever either ecclesiastical regulations or the needs of petitioners demand. A monk should therefore not be appointed as defender of the Church, since the two roles are fundamentally incompatible. Let another suitable person be found for the responsibilities of the defensorship — someone who can carry them out without abandoning the way of life to which he has committed himself before God.

Deo promissa sunt ualeant adimpleri. Omnimoda enim et illius 2 habitus et istius officii diuersitas est. Illic enim quies, oratio, labor manuum; at hic causarum condicio, conuentiones, actus, publica litigia, et quaecumque uel ecclesiastica instituta uel suppli¬ cantium necessitas poscit. Faciat autem Deus, ut tales sint qui 3 uel a uobis in isto habitu nutriuntur, uel in monasteriis crescunt, ut prouecta aetate et probata uita non ad litigiorum officia, sed ad sacerdotium ualeant promoneri. ^ Codd,: B fol. 26-26^; fol, 45^^, E ^ fol. 65^, £3 fol, 69, £4 fol. 34^; Fj fol. 161^-^, F* fol, 128^, Fi fol, 14r\ titore] ex potitore £* nulla] add. uobis Gratianus 3 uere satis] satis ualde Gratian. amassimum F 3 4 deduci] adduci (an recte?) B 5 sunt] superscr. B2 adinpleri £4 Fi et] est Gratian. 6 est] ow. Gratian, 7 condicio] cognitio Gratian. 8 uel] seq. de delet, (lin, subnotat.) in £3 9 sint] add. hii Gratian. 10 uobis] ex nobis corr. vid. B2 (?), nobis Gratian. Tit. Antoninae patriciae: Nihil prohibet, sed neque positive com¬ mendat, quominus eam uxorem BeUsarii esse adseram. Quoad istam, cf. E. Caspar, 0 . c., p. 231-232; E. Stein, Histoire ..., p. 285-286; 386-387; 481-482; 495-498; 589. 3. Pelagio, ergo, sacerdotium non solum monachos non dedecet, verum etiam ut corona maxima manachorum habendum est. Epistula nostra, praeterea, non parvi est ponderis ad dinoscendam pontificis men¬ tem de munere defensoris. EPISTUI^ 27,1-3; 28 Quis monasterii abbas sit ordinandus.