Letter 8020: Ad eundem precatoria pro ipso agro
Prayers for the Farm Gregory Gave
You are retracing the acts of generous Martin [Saint Martin of Tours, the 4th-century bishop who famously gave half his military cloak to a beggar], Gregory — as he covered us with his garment, you feed us with food. A wise disciple imitates his peaceful master: where the leader resides, the soldier will have help.
As he divided his cloak before, so you divide the small farm — he mighty in covering, you fitting in nourishing. He relieved the ancient poor man; you, dear one, relieve the new one: whoever becomes rich is rightly enriched through his poor man.
When the Lord comes [at the Last Judgment], let the field you gave speak for you. Let the acres that fed Fortunatus stand as a witness to your generosity. Let Martin, whose imitator you are, present you to Christ as one who has done as he did.
May the harvest of this field, small as it is, be multiplied in heaven according to the promise — to him who gives to the least of these.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
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