To Dominicus, Bishop of Carthage, on the Bond of Love

Gregory to Dominicus, bishop of Carthage. The letter of your holiness, which we received from the bearer of this letter, so expressed priestly moderation that it comforted us, in a way, as though its author were here in person. Nor indeed does infrequent writing do any harm where the affection of love remains unbroken in the mind. Great, moreover, is the power of love, beloved brother. It binds hearts to one another in mutual affection with the chain of its sincerity and does not let them be loosened from the bond of grace, which joins together things that are apart, holds together things that are united, and makes people who do not know each other by sight known to each other through love. So whoever fixes his heart on the hinge of love is torn from the dwelling of the heavenly country by no blow of any adversity whatever, since, whichever way he turns, he does not leave the threshold of the commandments. That is why the excellent preacher says in praise of this same love, “which is the bond of perfection” (Colossians 3, verse 14). We see, then, what great praise is due to that which not only brings perfection to birth in the soul but also binds it fast. [a]

So since the words of your letter show that you are on fire with this virtue, I rejoice in the Lord with abundant gladness, and I hope that it may shine out in you more and more, seeing that the flame of the shepherd is the light of the flock. For it is fitting for the Lord’s priest to shine in character and life, so that the people entrusted to him may be able, as in the mirror of his life, both to choose what to follow and to see what to correct. [b] Knowing, moreover, where the ordination of priests in the African lands had its beginning, you do well, in your love for the Apostolic See, to go back in wise remembrance to the origin of your office and to persevere with praiseworthy steadiness in your affection for it. For it is certain that whatever reverence and devotion you show it, as a priest should, you add to your own honor, since by this you invite it to be bound to you with answering love. [c] It remains, dearest brother, for us to beg Almighty God in constant prayer to direct the steps of our hearts into the path of his truth and to bring us to the heavenly kingdoms, granting us, by the grace of his protection, to show in our works the office we bear in name. The month of August, in the first indiction. [d]