To Dominicus, Bishop of Carthage, on the Weight of the Priesthood

Gregory to Dominicus, bishop of Carthage. [a]

We have received with the greatest pleasure the letters of your fraternity, which reached us somewhat late by the hands of Donatus and Quodvultdeus, our most reverend brothers and fellow bishops, and of Victor the deacon with Agilegius the notary. We thought we had suffered a loss through the slowness of their coming; yet we find a gain in their more abundant love. For this delay in time shows no break, but rather an increase, in the love which, by the mercy of God, we know to be already firmly planted in you through your reflection on the priestly office, your habit of reading, and your ripe age. For it would not flow so freely from you if it did not have a great many brimming springs in your heart. So, most holy brother, let us hold fast with unshaken firmness to love, this mother and guardian of the virtues. Let the tongues of the deceitful not lessen it in us, nor any snares of the ancient enemy corrupt it. For it joins what is divided, and keeps together what is joined. It lifts up what is lowly without making it swell; it brings down what is lifted up without casting it into dejection. Through love the unity of the universal church, which is the knitting together of the body of Christ, rejoices in each of its parts, because the mind holds them all equal, even though it contains unlikeness in the variety of its members. Through love these members both exult in the joy of others, though afflicted themselves, and droop at the sorrows of others, though joyful themselves. For as the teacher of the Gentiles testifies, if one member suffers anything, the other members suffer with it, and if one member glories, all the members rejoice with it. So I have no doubt that you groan over our troubles, just as it is quite certain that we rejoice over your peace.

Now your fraternity’s rejoicing with us over our ordination shows me the affection of a most sincere love. But I confess that a stab of sorrow goes through my soul when I consider this order of ministry. For heavy is the weight of the priesthood. A priest must first live in such a way as to be an example to others, and then be on his guard not to lift up his heart because of the example he gives. He should always be thinking of the ministry of preaching, considering with the deepest fear how the Lord, when he was about to go away to receive a kingdom for himself, and was giving talents to his servants, says, “Do business until I come.” We carry on this business only if by our living and our speaking we win the souls of our neighbors; if by preaching the joys of the heavenly kingdom we strengthen all who are weak in the love of God; if by sounding out the punishments of hell in terrible tones we bend the stubborn and the timid; if we spare no one when it goes against the truth; if, devoted to heavenly friendships, we do not fear human hostility. Indeed, it was by showing himself in this way that the psalmist knew he had offered a kind of sacrifice to God, when he said, “Did I not hate those who hated you, O God, and was I not grieved with your enemies? Yes, I hated them with a perfect hatred, and they became enemies to me.” But in view of this burden I tremble for my weakness, and I look to the return of the master of the house, after he has received his kingdom, to settle accounts with us. With what heart will I face his coming, if from the business I took on I bring him no gain, or almost none? So, dearest brother, help me with your prayers; and what you see me fear for myself, consider every day on your own account with anxious dread. For through the bond of love, what I say of myself is your concern, and what I want you to do is mine. [c]

Further, as to what your fraternity writes about the privileges of churches, hold to this without any hesitation: just as we defend our own rights, so we respect those of each of the churches. I do not grant any church whatever more than it deserves out of favoritism, nor do I, spurred on by ambition, take away from any church what belongs to it by right. I want to honor my brothers in every way, and so I take care that each may be advanced in honor, so long as no claim of right on the part of one stands against the other. Further, I greatly rejoice with you in the character of your messengers. In them I have been shown how much you love me, since you have sent me chosen brothers and sons. Given on the tenth day before the Kalends of August, in the tenth indiction. [f]