And when I asked [some elderly beggars] with concern what my aforesaid brother [bishop Marinianus had given them, they replied that they had asked him but had received absolutely nothing from him, not even any bread for the trip. Yet it has always been the normal custom for that church to give bread to all men. For they said that he answered them, saying: 'I do not have anything to give you'.
I am amazed if he who has clothes and silver and plenty of food, has not got anything that he might give to the poor.
Tell him therefore to change his mind with his place. He should not believe that reading and praying are sufficient for him on their own, so as to be keen to sit apart from others, and not bear fruit with his hand at all. But let him have a generous hand, supporting those suffering need and believe that the shortage of another is his own, because if he does not do this, the title of bishop which he holds is empty.
I am amazed if he who has clothes and silver and plenty of food, has not got anything that he might give to the poor.
Tell him therefore to change his mind with his place. He should not believe that reading and praying are sufficient for him on their own, so as to be keen to sit apart from others, and not bear fruit with his hand at all. But let him have a generous hand, supporting those suffering need and believe that the shortage of another is his own, because if he does not do this, the title of bishop which he holds is empty.
Cited from: The Letters of Gregory the Great, trans. John R.C. Martyn (Toronto: PIMS, 2004), II, 427
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