Quote from Letter 8.11 to Sabinian, bishop of Zara. December 597
I exhort you, therefore, my most beloved brother, that you earnestly show pastoral concern for the Lord's flock, and pay diligent attention to making a profit from the sheep entrusted to you, so that you may abound with the full retribution of a copious reward, and be offered plentiful fruits of your labors, when the eternal Judge arrives.
And so, be keen to rescue those who have lapsed in sin, be keen to show the path of redemption to those in error, and be keen to recall to the beneficent grace of communion those who have been deprived of it. Let the change of heart of your Charity be the duty of saving the rest, let it be an example of salvation, so that, while your Solicitude's care directs the wandering steps of the sheep of the folds of the supreme shepherd, they may not be left exposed to the teeth of wolves, and the compensation of a well-deserved reward may await you in eternal life, that must be sought above all else.
And so, be keen to rescue those who have lapsed in sin, be keen to show the path of redemption to those in error, and be keen to recall to the beneficent grace of communion those who have been deprived of it. Let the change of heart of your Charity be the duty of saving the rest, let it be an example of salvation, so that, while your Solicitude's care directs the wandering steps of the sheep of the folds of the supreme shepherd, they may not be left exposed to the teeth of wolves, and the compensation of a well-deserved reward may await you in eternal life, that must be sought above all else.
Cited from: The Letters of Gregory the Great, trans. John R.C. Martyn (Toronto: PIMS, 2004), II, 508
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