Quote from Letter 8.34 to the illustrious Adeodata. August 598
The letter of your Glory has brought great joy to us, because it signified that you have a desire for eternal life. But because the fleeting glory of the world usually obstructs enthusiasm of this sort, we exhort you not to let some transitory matter revoke that most salutary determination of your mind, or turn aside from the path it has embarked on.
Rather, let the love of a heavenly homeland inspire your mind, let reward which will last stimulate it, and at the promise of the coming Judge, let it always aspire for what is certain, and earn what is eternal from temporal things, so that from this, you can be in true glory and be numbered among the heavenly matrons.
Recall to your mind the good fortunes of the times, the multitude of people, the processions of dignities, the glory of matrons and the abundance of riches. Consider when and how all of these were created, and from this, think how they are as nothing, and that the man who loves such things is dreaming while awake.
The letter of your Glory has brought great joy to us, because it signified that you have a desire for eternal life. But because the fleeting glory of the world usually obstructs enthusiasm of this sort, we exhort you not to let some transitory matter revoke that most salutary determination of your mind, or turn aside from the path it has embarked on.
Rather, let the love of a heavenly homeland inspire your mind, let reward which will last stimulate it, and at the promise of the coming Judge, let it always aspire for what is certain, and earn what is eternal from temporal things, so that from this, you can be in true glory and be numbered among the heavenly matrons.
Recall to your mind the good fortunes of the times, the multitude of people, the processions of dignities, the glory of matrons and the abundance of riches. Consider when and how all of these were created, and from this, think how they are as nothing, and that the man who loves such things is dreaming while awake.
Cited from: The Letters of Gregory the Great, trans. John R.C. Martyn (Toronto: PIMS, 2004), II, 529
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