To the Empress Leontia, on the New Reign

Gregory to Leontia Augusta. [a]

What tongue could be enough to say, what mind enough to think, how great the thanks we owe to Almighty God for the serenity of your reign? Such hard burdens, borne so long, have been lifted from our necks, and the gentle yoke of imperial rule has returned, a yoke that subjects are glad to bear. Let glory, then, be given to the Creator of all by the choirs of angels singing hymns, and let thanks be paid by people on earth, because the whole state, which has endured many wounds of sorrow, has now at last found the balm of your comfort. So we must all the more earnestly implore the mercy of Almighty God that he will keep the heart of your piety always in his right hand, and order your thoughts by the help of heavenly grace, so that your tranquility may be able to rule those who serve you all the more righteously, the more truly you know how to serve the Sovereign of all. Having in his kindness made you our emperors, may he make you his champions in love for the catholic faith. May he pour into your minds zeal together with gentleness, so that with devout fervor you may always be able to leave no wrong done against God unavenged, and to bear with and spare any offense committed against yourselves. May he give us in your piety the clemency of Pulcheria Augusta, who for her zeal for the catholic faith was called “the new Helena” in the holy synod. May the almighty mercy of God grant you a fuller length of days to live with our most devout lord, so that the longer your life is extended, the more firmly the comfort of your subjects may be established. [b]

Perhaps I ought to have asked your tranquility to hold the church of the blessed apostle Peter especially commended to you, since up to this time it has suffered under grievous plots against it. But knowing that you love Almighty God, I should not ask for what you will show of your own accord out of the kindness of your devotion. For the more you fear the Creator of all, the more fully you will love the church of the one to whom it was said, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it,” and to whom it is said, “To you I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” So we have no doubt with what strong love you will bind yourself to him through whom you earnestly long to be loosed from all your sins. May he, then, be the guardian of your reign. May he be your protector on earth, and may he be an intercessor for you in heaven, so that by relieving your subjects of hard burdens and making them rejoice in your reign, you may after many years rejoice in the heavenly kingdom. [c]