Letter 2,24 - to Rusticiana. April 592.
"But I was very surprised as to why you have put off your intention the journey you planned, to the holy lands, as well of your vows of a good deed, when it is necessary to complete an act of devotion quickly, if ever a good deed is conceived in one's heart as a gift to the Creator.
Otherwise, while the cunning entrapper strives to ensnare a soul, he at once suggests various obstacles by which one's mind is debilitated, and does not let one's desires reach fulfillment.
For this reason it is necessary for your Excellency to anticipate all the obstacles obstructing the path of holy causes, and to aspire to the rewards of a good deed with every effort of one's heart, so that one may both live with tranquillity in the present age, and may in the future possess a heavenly kingdom."
Cited from: The Letters of Gregory the Great, trans. John R.C. Martyn (Toronto: PIMS, 2004), I: 207.
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