In Respons To Your Letter....

Letter 3,52 - to John, bishop of Constantinopel. July 593

"Would it not have been better that meat went in that mouth for consumption, than that a false story should come out of it to mock a very close friend? Especially when Truth says: 'It is not what enters one mouth that defiles that person, but what comes out of the mouth is what defiles one'.
But let this not be true, so that I not believe something of that sort about your most holy heart. Those letters were marked by your name at the top, but I do not think that they were yours.
I had written to that most blessed man, Lord John, but I believe that a quite young servant of yours wrote back to me, who has learnt nothing about God so far, who does not know the inner parts of love, who is accused by all for his sinful actions, and who contrives each day the deaths of various people through secret testaments. And yet neither fears God nor shows shame before men. Believe me, most holy brother, if you have a perfect zeal for truth, first correct yourself, so that besides those who are close to you, those also who are not close to you may be changed for the better by your example. Do not accept that man's utterance. He ought to be directer to the counsel of your Holiness, and your Holiness ought not to be altered to his words. For if you listen to him, I know that you will not be able to have peace with your brethren."

Cited from: The Letters of Gregory the Great, trans. John R.C. Martyn (Toronto: PIMS, 2004), I: 270.