Quote from Letter 8.7 to Leo, bishop of Catana. November 597
And we wish, therefore, that whatever happends tp be paid to your church from revenue or any other item, you ought to segregate a fourth part from it, without any reduction, and divide it with discretion and the fear of God among the priests, deacons and clerics, as you see fit.
But do so, of course, in such a way that you have a free license to reward any person, if his hard work deserves it, so that both these who are deserving may feel they are consoled by temporal goods also, and others, with the help of our Lord, may strive to become better by imitating them.
And we wish, therefore, that whatever happends tp be paid to your church from revenue or any other item, you ought to segregate a fourth part from it, without any reduction, and divide it with discretion and the fear of God among the priests, deacons and clerics, as you see fit.
But do so, of course, in such a way that you have a free license to reward any person, if his hard work deserves it, so that both these who are deserving may feel they are consoled by temporal goods also, and others, with the help of our Lord, may strive to become better by imitating them.
Cited from: The Letters of Gregory the Great, trans. John R.C. Martyn (Toronto: PIMS, 2004), II, 506
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