(However) since I hear, as I have said before, that some of you have lapsed through ignorance, and some have even been forced violently into taking [unlawful] communion [by Maximus], I pray our almighty Lord that He looks after those who did not consent to this sin at all, with the perpetual protection of His grace, and that He rewards them with longed-for generosity.
But for those forced into sin by their support or ignorance or some other cause, may He absolve them from all guilt for their sins and from all bonds of obligation to others, and provide them the grace of His protection in their present life, and allow us to rejoice over you in the eternal homeland.
Therefore, so that this intercession may help you before God our Savior, show obedience to our exhortations for the salvation of your souls, and receive Holy Communion from those whom you know have abstained or are abstaining from communion with the aforesaid Maximus.
Cited from: The Letters of Gregory the Great, trans. John R.C. Martyn (Toronto: PIMS, 2004), II, 436
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