Quote from Letter 8.2 to Anastasius, bishop of Antioch. September 597
But your most charming Holiness indicates to me that, if it were possible you whould have liked to speak with me without paper and pen, and you lament because a distance lies between us almost from East to West. But what I say is what I think is true, and on your paper your mind speaks to me without any paper, because love alone sounds in the words of your Holiness, and we are not divided by places, for we are one with the bond of love, as a gift of our almighty Lord.
Why, then, do you seek to obtain the wings of a dove, plated with silver [Ps 66:13 & Ps 55:5], when you already have them? For indeed your wings are the love of God and of your neighbour. For with them, the Holy Church flies up with them, it transcends all earthly things, and if your Holiness did not have them, you would not have come to me in your letters with such great love.
I ask you to pray for the infirmity of my heart more earnestly, so that almighty God might defend my mind from all evils due to your intercession, and snatch me away from so many storms of this calamitous time, and bring me to the shore of eternal peace.
But your most charming Holiness indicates to me that, if it were possible you whould have liked to speak with me without paper and pen, and you lament because a distance lies between us almost from East to West. But what I say is what I think is true, and on your paper your mind speaks to me without any paper, because love alone sounds in the words of your Holiness, and we are not divided by places, for we are one with the bond of love, as a gift of our almighty Lord.
Why, then, do you seek to obtain the wings of a dove, plated with silver [Ps 66:13 & Ps 55:5], when you already have them? For indeed your wings are the love of God and of your neighbour. For with them, the Holy Church flies up with them, it transcends all earthly things, and if your Holiness did not have them, you would not have come to me in your letters with such great love.
I ask you to pray for the infirmity of my heart more earnestly, so that almighty God might defend my mind from all evils due to your intercession, and snatch me away from so many storms of this calamitous time, and bring me to the shore of eternal peace.
Cited from: The Letters of Gregory the Great, trans. John R.C. Martyn (Toronto: PIMS, 2004), II, 498
No comments:
Post a Comment