To Ethelbert, King of the Angles

Gregory to Ethelbert, and so on. [a]

Almighty God advances good men to the government of peoples for this reason: so that through them he may bestow the gifts of his loving-kindness on all over whom they are set. We have found this to be so in the nation of the Angles, over which your glory has been placed, so that through the good things granted to you, heavenly benefits might be conferred on the nation under you. And so, glorious son, guard with anxious care the grace you have received from above. Hurry to spread the Christian faith among the peoples under your rule. Redouble the zeal of your uprightness in their conversion. Put down the worship of idols and overturn the buildings of their temples. Build up the conduct of your subjects in great purity of life by urging them, by frightening them, by winning them over, by correcting them, and by showing them examples of good deeds. Then you will find him your rewarder in heaven whose name and knowledge you have spread abroad on earth. For he himself will make the name of your glory still more glorious to those who come after, if you seek and uphold his honor among the nations. For so Constantine, once the most pious emperor, called the Roman state back from the perverse worship of idols and brought it, together with himself, under our Almighty Lord God Jesus Christ, and with all his heart he turned to him, together with the peoples under him. That is how it came about that he surpassed in praise the name of the ancient rulers, and excelled those before him as much in fame as in good deeds. And now, therefore, let your glory hurry to pour the knowledge of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, into the kings and peoples under you. Then you may surpass the ancient kings of your race both in fame and in merits; and the more you have wiped away the sins of others among your subjects, the more secure you may be about your own sins before the terrible scrutiny of Almighty God. [b]

Moreover, you have with you our most reverend brother, Bishop Augustine, trained in the monastic rule, filled with knowledge of Holy Scripture, and endowed by the grace of God with good works. Listen gladly to his counsels, follow them devoutly, and keep them carefully in mind. For if you listen to him in what he says on behalf of Almighty God, the same Almighty God will listen to him all the sooner when he prays for you. But if, God forbid, you disregard his words, how will Almighty God ever hear him on your behalf, when you neglect to hear him on God’s behalf? So with all your heart bind yourselves to him in fervent faith, and support his efforts with the power that he gives you from above, so that he whose faith you cause to be received and kept in your kingdom may himself make you sharers in his own kingdom.

Further, we want your glory to know that, as we learn from the words of the Almighty Lord in Holy Scripture, the end of the present world is already near, and the reign of the saints is coming, which can have no end. And now that the end of the world is approaching, many things are at hand that have not been before: changes in the air, terrors from heaven, seasons out of their accustomed order, wars, famine, plagues, and earthquakes in various places. Yet these things will not come in our days; they will all follow after our days. So if you see any of these things happening in your land, do not let your mind be troubled in any way. These signs of the end of the world are sent ahead for this purpose: that we should be anxious about our souls, on our guard for the hour of death, and found ready in our good deeds for the coming Judge. We have spoken of these things only briefly for now, glorious son, so that when the Christian faith has spread in your kingdom, our speech to you may also spread to greater length, and we may be glad to speak all the more fully as joy multiplies in our heart over the completed conversion of your nation. [c]

I have sent you some small gifts, which will not be small to you when you receive them as coming with the blessing of the blessed apostle Peter. And so may Almighty God guard and complete in you the grace he has begun, lengthen your life here through the course of many years, and after a long life receive you into the congregation of the heavenly homeland. May heavenly grace keep your excellency safe, my lord and son. Given on the tenth day before the Kalends of July, in the nineteenth year of the reign of our most pious lord Maurice Tiberius Augustus, the eighteenth year after the consulship of the same our lord, in the fourth indiction. [d]