To the Emperor Maurice, on Receiving the Envoys of Cyriacus

Gregory to Maurice Augustus. The provident piety of my lords, so that no scandal might arise in the unity of the holy church through dissension among priests, has more than once deigned to admonish me to receive kindly the representatives of my brother and fellow priest Cyriacus, and to give them leave to return soon. And although, most pious lord, all your commands are fitting and provident, I find that by such an admonition I am rebuked as being, in your judgment, lacking in discretion. But even though my mind has been wounded in no slight degree by a proud and profane title, could I possibly be so lacking in discretion as not to know what I owed to the unity of the faith and to the harmony of the church, and to refuse to receive the representatives and the synodical letter of my brother because of bitterness arising from whatever cause? Far be this from me. Such wisdom would have been folly. For what we owe to preserving the unity of the faith is one thing; what we owe to restraining self-exaltation is another. So the times had to be kept apart, so that my brother, newly come to his office, should not be troubled on any point. That is why I received his representatives with great affection. Whatever love I owed them I showed. I honored them more than the ancient custom was, and I had them celebrate the sacred solemnities of mass with me. For just as my deacon ought not to serve, in the performance of the sacred mysteries, a man who has either committed the sin of self-exaltation or does not correct it when others commit it, so it was right that his ministers should attend on me in the celebration of mass, since under the keeping of God I have not fallen into the error of pride. [a]

I have, however, taken care to admonish this same brother and fellow bishop of mine earnestly that, if he wishes to have peace and harmony with all, he must refrain from using a foolish title. On this point the piety of my lords has charged me in their orders, saying that offense ought not to arise among us over the use of a frivolous name. But I beg your imperial Piety to consider that some frivolous things are quite harmless, and others exceedingly harmful. When the Antichrist comes and calls himself God, will it not be a very frivolous thing, and yet exceedingly destructive? If we look at the length of the words used, there are only a few syllables; but if we look at the weight of the wrong, there is universal disaster. Now I say with confidence that whoever calls himself Universal Priest, or wishes to be called so, is in his self-exaltation the forerunner of the Antichrist, because he proudly puts himself above all others. Nor is it by any unlike pride that he is led into error. For as that perverse one wishes to appear above all men, so whoever this is who longs to be called sole priest raises himself above all other priests. But since the Truth says, “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled” (Luke 14, verse 11; Luke 18, verse 14), I know that every kind of self-exaltation bursts the sooner the more it is puffed up. So let your piety charge those who have fallen into an example of pride not to cause any offense by using a frivolous name. For I, a sinner, who by God’s help keep humility, have no need to be admonished to humility. Now may Almighty God long guard the life of our most serene lord, for the peace of the holy church and the good of the Roman state. For we are sure that if you live, you who fear the Lord of heaven, you will allow no proud doings to prevail against the truth.