De sancto Mathia apostolo
The Apostle Matthias
The life and election of Matthias, including the apocryphal background of his predecessor, Judas Iscariot.
In Hebrew, the name Mathias means 'gift of the Lord,' 'donation of the Lord,' 'humble,' or 'little one.' For he was a gift from the Lord when He chose him. He chose him from the world and appointed him as one of the seventy-two disciples. He became a 'donation of the Lord' when, chosen by lot, he earned the right to be named among the apostles. He was 'little' because he always maintained true humility. There is, however, a threefold humility, as Ambrose says: the first is of affliction, by which a person is said to be humbled; the second is of consideration, which comes from self-reflection; the third is of devotion, which comes from the knowledge of the Creator. Blessed Mathias possessed the first by enduring martyrdom, the second by despising himself, and the third by admiring the majesty of God. Alternatively, the name is said to come from 'hand,' which means 'good,' and 'thesis,' which means 'position.' Thus, Matthias was the good set in place of the evil one—that is, in place of Judas—and it's believed that Bede wrote his life, which is read throughout the churches. Matthias the Apostle was chosen to replace Judas, but let's first look briefly at the origins and background of Judas himself. It's recorded in a certain history—though it's apocryphal—that there was a man in Jerusalem named Ruben, also called Simon, from the tribe of Dan (or, according to Jerome, from the tribe of Issachar), who had a wife named Cyborea. One night, after they had been together, Cyborea fell asleep and had a dream; terrified, she woke up and told her husband about it with tears and sighs, saying, 'I dreamed that I gave birth to a wicked son who would be the cause of our entire people's ruin.' To this, Ruben replied, 'You are speaking of an abominable thing, something not even fit to be mentioned, and I suspect you are being seized by a demonic spirit.' She answered him, 'If I find that I have conceived and I give birth to a son, then without a doubt, it wasn't a demonic spirit, but a true revelation.' As time went on and she had indeed given birth to a son, the parents were deeply afraid and began to wonder what they should do about him; since they were horrified at the thought of killing him, yet did not want to raise the destroyer of their own family, they placed him in a basket and set him out on the sea, where the ocean currents carried him to an island called Scarioth. It was from that island that he was called Judas Iscariot. The queen of that place, who had no children, went down to the seashore for a walk and, seeing a basket being tossed about by the waves, ordered it to be opened; finding a beautiful baby boy inside, she sighed and said, 'Oh, if only I could be comforted by a child like this, so that I wouldn't be left without an heir to my kingdom.' She had the boy raised in secret and pretended to be pregnant; eventually, she lied and claimed she had given birth to a son, and this famous story was spread throughout the whole kingdom. The prince rejoiced greatly over the child who had been received, and the people were filled with immense joy. She had him raised with royal magnificence, but not long after, the queen conceived by the king and in due time gave birth to a son. When the boys had grown a little, they often played together, but Judas would frequently harass the king's son with constant annoyances and insults, often driving him to tears. The queen, however, took this badly and, knowing that Judas wasn't her own, beat him all the more often. Even so, he didn't stop harassing the boy. Eventually, the truth came out, and it was revealed that Judas wasn't the queen's true son, but a foundling. When Judas found this out, he was deeply ashamed and secretly killed his foster brother, the king's son. Fearing a death sentence for this, he fled to Jerusalem with the tax collectors and committed himself to the court of Pilate, who was governor at the time. Since like attracts like, Pilate found that Judas matched his own character, and for that reason, he began to hold him very dear. Judas was therefore put in charge of Pilate’s entire household, and everything was managed at his beck and call. One day, as Pilate looked out from his palace into an orchard, he was seized by such a craving for the fruit that he felt like he might faint. Now, that orchard belonged to Ruben, the father of Judas, but neither did Judas recognize his father, nor did Ruben recognize his son, because Ruben thought he had perished in those sea waves, and Judas was completely ignorant of who his father was or what his homeland had been. So Pilate, having summoned Judas, said, "I am seized by such a desire for those fruits that if I am denied them, I shall breathe my last." Agitated, Judas jumped into the orchard and began picking the fruit in a hurry. Meanwhile, Ruben arrived and found Judas picking his fruit; they argued fiercely, traded insults, and then came to blows, injuring one another. Finally, Judas struck Ruben with a stone in the spot where the neck joins the collarbone, killing him. Judas then gathered the fruit and told Pilate what had happened. As the day waned and night came on, Ruben was found dead, and it was assumed he had been taken by a sudden death; Pilate then handed over all of Ruben's property to Judas and gave Cyborea, Ruben's wife, to Judas as his own. One day, while Cyborea was sighing heavily and Judas, her husband, was diligently asking her what was wrong, she replied, "I am the most unhappy of all women, for I drowned my infant son in the sea's waves and found my husband dead of a sudden end; and to my grief, Pilate added more, for he gave me, in my deepest sorrow, to you in marriage, and joined me to you against my will." When she had told him everything about the infant, and Judas had recounted what had happened to him, it was discovered that Judas had married his own mother and killed his own father. Moved by repentance, and at Cyborea's urging, he went to our Lord Jesus Christ and begged for forgiveness for his sins. This is as far as that apocryphal story goes; whether it should be recited is left to the reader's discretion, though it is better left aside than asserted as fact. The Lord, however, made him a disciple, and from a disciple chose him as an apostle; he was so familiar and dear to Him that He made him His steward, though he later became His betrayer. For he carried the money box and would steal what was given to Christ. Grieved at the time of the Lord's Passion that the ointment, which was worth three hundred denarii, had not been sold so that he could steal that money too, he went and sold the Lord for thirty denarii—each of which was worth ten common denarii, thus compensating for the loss of the three-hundred-denarii ointment; or, as some say, he used to steal a tenth part of everything given to Christ, and so for the tenth part he had lost on the ointment—that is, for thirty denarii—he sold the Lord, though, moved by repentance, he returned them, went off, hanged himself with a noose, and, hanging there, burst open in the middle, and all his bowels spilled out. It was brought to his mouth so that it would not spill out through his mouth; for it was not fitting that a mouth which had touched the mouth of Christ—a mouth so glorious—should be defiled so vilely. It was fitting that the bowels which had conceived the betrayal should burst and fall out, and that the throat from which the traitor’s voice had issued should be constricted by a noose. He also perished in the air, so that he who had offended the angels in heaven and men on earth might be separated from the realm of both angels and men, and be joined with the demons in the air. When, therefore, the apostles were together in the upper room between the Ascension and Pentecost, Peter, seeing that the number of the twelve apostles was diminished—whom the Lord had nevertheless chosen in that number so that they might preach the faith of the Trinity in the four parts of the world—stood up in the midst of the brothers and said: 'Brothers, it is necessary that we replace someone in Judas's place who can testify with us to the resurrection of Christ, because the Lord said to us: "You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judaea and in Samaria and to the ends of the earth." And because a witness must bear testimony only to those things he has seen, we must choose one of these men who have been with us always, and who have seen the Lord's miracles and heard his teaching.' They proposed two men from the seventy-two disciples: Joseph, called Justus for his holiness, who was the brother of James of Alphaeus, and Matthias, about whom nothing specific is said, because it is praise enough that he was chosen as an apostle. And praying, they said: 'You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two you have chosen to take the place of this ministry and apostleship, which Judas abandoned.' They cast lots, the lot fell to Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. It should be noted that, as Jerome says, we shouldn't use this example to justify the use of lots, because the privileges of a few don't establish a common law. Furthermore, as Bede says, it was acceptable to follow the figure until the truth came. For the true sacrifice was offered in the Passion, but it was brought to completion at Pentecost; therefore, they used lots in the election of Matthias so as not to depart from the Law, in which the high priest was sought by lot. After Pentecost, however, once the truth was revealed, the seven deacons were chosen not by lot, but by the disciples' election and the apostles' prayer. And they were ordained through the laying on of hands. As for what kind of lots these were, the holy fathers have two opinions; Jerome and Bede believe these lots were similar to those commonly used under the Old Law. Dionysius, however, who was a disciple of Paul, considers it irreverent to think this, asserting that it seems to him that this lot was nothing other than a certain splendor and ray sent down divinely upon Matthias, through which he was shown to be the one to be assumed into the apostolate. For he says in his book, The Celestial Hierarchy: 'Regarding the divine lot that fell divinely upon Matthias, others have said things that are not religious, as I judge; I, however, will state my own intention.' . The words seem to me to refer to the lot as a certain divine gift, showing that he was chosen for that holy choir by God's own election. So Matthias the Apostle received Judea as his lot, and by persisting in his preaching there and performing many miracles, he rested in peace. In some manuscripts, however, it says that he endured the cross and, crowned by such martyrdom, ascended to heaven; his body is said to be buried in Rome in the church of Saint Mary Major under a porphyry stone, and his head is shown to the people there. In a certain legend found at Trier, it says among other things that Matthias was of the tribe of Judah and the city of Bethlehem, born of an illustrious family. Having been instructed in letters, he grasped the entire knowledge of the Law and the prophets in a short time, and by abhorring lasciviousness, he surpassed his childhood years with the maturity of his character. His spirit was also formed toward virtue, so that he was apt for understanding, ready for mercy, not puffed up in prosperity, and constant and fearless in adversity. He strove to fulfill in action what he had commanded by his order, and to show the teaching of his mouth by the work of his hands. When he was preaching through Judea, he gave sight to the blind, cleansed the lepers, cast out demons, and restored the ability to walk to the lame, hearing to the deaf, and life to the dead. When he was accused before the high priest, he answered regarding many things: 'There's no need for me to say much about the things you call crimes, since to be a Christian isn't a crime, but a glory.'
The Life and Miracles of Pope Gregory
A detailed hagiographical account of Pope Gregory the Great, covering his conversion, humility, miracles, and legacy.
The high priest asked him, "If you're given a reprieve, are you willing to repent?" He replied, "God forbid that I should turn away from the truth I've once found by committing apostasy." Mathias was therefore highly learned in the Law, pure in heart, prudent in spirit, sharp in resolving questions of Holy Scripture, wise in counsel, and fluent in speech. For he prays well who lives well. His life was written by Paul the historian of the Lombards, which John the Deacon later compiled with greater diligence. 3. Gregory, born of a senatorial family—his father was Gordianus and his mother was said to be Silvia—had reached the very peak of philosophy in his youth and possessed an abundance of wealth and possessions, yet he thought of leaving all this behind to enter the religious life. But while he delayed his conversion, thinking he would serve Christ more safely if he continued to serve the world in the guise of a city prefect, many worldly cares began to mount against him, so that he was held back not only in appearance but also in his mind. Finally, after his father died, he built six monasteries in Sicily, and a seventh within the city walls on his own property in honor of the apostle Saint Andrew, where he left behind his silks, gold, and radiant jewels to be clothed in a humble monastic habit. He reached such a level of perfection in such a short time that, right at the start of his conversion, he could already be counted among the perfect. His perfection can be somewhat understood from his own words, which he wrote in the prologue to his Dialogues, where he says: 'My unhappy soul, struck by the wound of its own occupation, remembers what it was once like in the monastery; how all passing things fell away beneath it; how it rose above all things that are in flux; how it was accustomed to think of nothing but heavenly things; how, even while held in the body, it already passed beyond the very barriers of the flesh in contemplation; and how it even loved death—which is a punishment to almost everyone—as the entrance to life and the reward of its labor.' Finally, he afflicted his body with such severity that his stomach was weakened, leaving him barely able to stand, and he suffered from the failure of his vital organs—what the Greeks call syncope—bringing him to the brink of death in frequent, agonizing moments. Once, while he was writing in the monastery where he served as abbot, an angel of the Lord appeared to him disguised as a shipwrecked man and tearfully begged for his mercy. After Gregory had six silver coins given to him and the man left, he returned later that same day, claiming he had lost a great deal and had received very little. When he had received the same amount and returned a third time, he kept begging for mercy with persistent cries; but Gregory, having learned from the monastery's steward that nothing was left to give except for a silver dish his mother used to send to the monastery with vegetables, ordered it to be given to him immediately, and the man accepted it gladly and left happy. This was an angel of the Lord, as he later revealed himself to be. One day, as the blessed Gregory was passing through the Roman forum, he saw some boys for sale who were remarkably beautiful in form, charming in face, and striking for the brightness of their hair. He therefore asked the merchant from what country he had brought them. He replied, "From Britain, where the people shine with that same brightness." He asked again if they were Christians, and the merchant replied, "No, they are held fast by pagan errors." Then Gregory groaned deeply and said, "Alas, what a pity that the prince of darkness now possesses such splendid faces." He asked, therefore, what the name of that people was. The man replied, "They're called Angles." "Good," he said, "Angles, as if they were angels, because they also have angelic faces." He then asked him the name of that province. The merchant replied, "The people of that province are called Deiri." Gregory said, "That is a good name, for they must be rescued from wrath." He then asked the name of their king. The merchant said his name was Aelle, and Gregory replied, "That is good, for 'Alleluia' must be sung in those parts." He soon went to the Pope and, with much persistence and prayer, barely managed to get permission to be sent to convert them. But once he had set out on his journey, the Romans were deeply disturbed by his absence; they went to the Pope and said, "You have offended Peter, you have destroyed Rome, you have let Gregory go." Terrified, the Pope immediately sent messengers to call him back. When Gregory had already traveled for three days and had stopped in a certain place to read while the others were resting, a locust landed on him, forcing him to stop reading. From the consideration of its name, it taught him that he should stay in that place. Realizing this through a prophetic spirit, he immediately urged his companions to set out more quickly, but he was compelled to return by the arrival of the apostolic messengers, even though he was deeply saddened by it. Then the pope drew him away from his monastery and ordained him as his cardinal deacon. At one point, the Tiber River overflowed its banks, rising so high that it flooded over the city walls and destroyed many homes. At that same time, a multitude of snakes, along with a great dragon, were carried down the Tiber into the sea; but they were choked by the waves and washed back onto the shore, where they corrupted the entire air with their rot. A terrible plague, which they call the 'inguinal' plague, followed, so that it seemed as if arrows were coming from heaven to strike down every single person. This plague struck Pope Pelagius first and killed him immediately; afterward, it raged so fiercely against the common people that it left many houses in the city empty. Because the Church of God could not be left without a leader, the entire populace chose Gregory, even though he resisted with all his might. Since he had to be blessed and the plague was devastating the people, he preached a sermon to the public, organized a procession, established litanies, and urged everyone to pray to God more intently. Even though the entire gathered populace was praying to God, the plague itself raged so violently that in a single hour ninety people would breathe their last. Yet he never stopped urging the people not to give up on prayer until divine mercy should drive away the plague itself. Once the procession was finished, he wanted to flee, but he could not, because guards were watching the city gates day and night on his account. Finally, having changed his clothes, he managed to get some merchants to take him out of the city in a barrel on a wagon. He soon sought out the woods, searched for the hiding places of caves, and hid there for three days. Nevertheless, while he was being searched for anxiously, a bright, shining pillar appeared from heaven, hanging over the place where he was hiding. A certain hermit saw angels descending and ascending on that pillar, and soon he was captured by the entire populace, brought back, and consecrated as Supreme Pontiff. Anyone who reads his own words can clearly see that he climbed to this high honor against his will. In a letter to the patrician Narses, he writes: 'As you describe the heights of contemplation, you renew the groaning for my own ruin, because I have heard what I lost within while I was climbing, unmerited, to the heights of leadership outside.' Know that I am struck with such sorrow that I can barely speak. Do not call me Naomi, then.1 It is beautiful, but call me Mara, because I am full of bitterness. He says elsewhere: 'If you love me, weep for the fact that I am known to have reached the order of the episcopacy, because I myself weep incessantly, and I ask that you pray to God for me.' In the prologue to his Dialogues, he also says: 'Because of the demands of pastoral care, my soul suffers the business of worldly men, and after such a beautiful vision of its own quiet, it is stained by the dust of earthly action.' I weigh, therefore, what I am enduring; I weigh what I have lost. As I look at what I've lost, my burden grows heavier; I'm tossed more violently by the sea's waves and battered by fierce storms within the ship of my soul, and when I recall my former life, I sigh like someone looking back at the shore they've left behind. But because that plague was still devastating Rome, he ordered a procession with litanies to be held around the city during the Easter season. During this, he had an image of the Blessed Mary, ever-virgin—which they say is still in Rome in the church of Saint Mary Major, and which Luke, a physician and skilled painter, is said to have created and which is held to be in every way most like the Virgin herself—reverently carried at the front of the procession. And behold, all the infection and turbulence of the air gave way to the image, as if fleeing it and unable to bear its presence, and a wondrous serenity and purity of air remained in the image's wake. Then, it is reported that voices of angels were heard in the air near the image, singing: 'Queen of Heaven, rejoice, alleluia; for He whom you were worthy to bear, alleluia, has risen as He said, alleluia.' And immediately blessed Gregory added what follows: 'Pray for us to God, alleluia.' Then blessed Gregory saw an angel of the Lord above the Castle of Crescentius, who was wiping a blood-stained sword and returning it to its sheath; Gregory understood that the plague had ceased, and so it came to pass. Because of this, that castle was thereafter called the Castle of the Angel. Finally, as he had desired, he sent Augustine, Mellitus, and John, along with certain others, into England and converted them to the faith through his prayers and merits. Blessed Gregory was of such humility that he would not allow himself to be praised in any way. For he wrote to Bishop Stephen, who had praised him in his letters: "You show me much favor in your letters—more than I, unworthy as I am, deserve to hear—and yet it is written: 'Do not praise a man while he lives.' Still, even if I was not worthy to hear such things, I ask through your prayers that I might become worthy, so that if you spoke good things about me because they were not yet there, they might become true because you said them."2 Likewise, in a letter to the patrician Narses: "By creating a similarity of cause and name through your written phrases and speeches, you are, my dearest brother, calling a monkey a lion; for we see ourselves acting in the same way that we often call mangy puppies leopards or tigers." Also, in a letter to Anastasius, Patriarch of Antioch: "By calling me the mouth of the Lord and a lamp, and by claiming that I can benefit many and shine for many by my speaking, you have, I confess, brought my own self-estimation into the greatest doubt." For I consider who I am, and I find in myself no sign of such goodness; yet I consider who you are, and I don't think you are capable of lying. When, therefore, I want to believe what you say, my own weakness contradicts me; when I want to argue for what is said in my praise, your holiness contradicts me. But I ask you, holy man, let us reach some agreement on this struggle of ours, so that if it isn't as you say, it may become so because you say it. He also completely rejected words that sounded boastful or vain; thus he wrote to Eulogius, Patriarch of Alexandria, who had called him universal pope: "In the preface of the letter you sent to me, you took care to include a word of proud address, calling me universal pope."3 I ask that your most sweet holiness stop doing this, because whatever is given to another beyond what reason requires is taken away from you. I don't seek to be honored in words, but in character; nor do I consider it an honor when I know that my brothers lose their own honor by doing so. Let those words, therefore, that inflate vanity and wound charity be cast aside. Hence it is that when John, the Bishop of Constantinople, usurped this title of vanity for himself and had fraudulently obtained from the synod that he be called universal pope, Gregory wrote of him, among other things: 'Who is this who, against the statutes of the Gospel and against the decrees of the canons, presumes to usurp a new title for himself, so that he might be one as if without diminution, who desires to be everything?' He also refused to have the word 'command' used toward him by his fellow bishops; hence he says in a letter to Eulogius, the Bishop of Alexandria: 'Your charity speaks to me, saying, "As you commanded," but I ask that this word of command be removed from my hearing, because I know who I am and who you are; for in position you are my brothers, but in character you are my fathers.' Furthermore, because of the excessive humility he possessed, he did not want noblewomen to call themselves his handmaids. Hence, writing to the noblewoman Rusticana, he says: 'I took one thing in your letters with displeasure, because what could have been said once was said repeatedly: "your handmaid," and "your handmaid."' For I, who have been made the servant of all through the burdens of the episcopacy, by what reasoning do you call yourself my handmaid? I was your own before you took up the office of bishop, and so I ask you by the almighty God, never let me find that word in your letters to me again. He was the first to call himself the servant of the servants of God in his letters, and he established that others should be addressed that way as well. Out of deep humility, he didn't want his books published while he was still alive, and he thought his own work was worth nothing compared to others. That is why he wrote this to Innocent, the prefect of Africa: 'I am glad you are so eager to have my commentary on Job sent to you, but if you want to be fed on delicious food, read the works of the blessed Augustine, your fellow countryman. Do not look for our bran when you can compare it to his fine flour. For I do not want it to be easy for people to learn of anything I might have happened to say while I am still in this flesh.' It is also read in a certain book translated from Greek into Latin that a holy father named Abbot John, having come to Rome to visit the shrines of the apostles, saw the blessed Pope Gregory passing through the middle of the city and wanted to approach him to show him the reverence that was fitting. But the blessed Gregory, seeing that he wanted to prostrate himself on the ground, hurried and prostrated himself on the ground before him first, and he did not rise until the abbot had risen first; in this, his great humility is commended. He was so generous with his alms that he provided for the needs of not only those nearby, but even those living far away, including the monks on Mount Sinai; he kept a written list of everyone in need and supported them liberally. He established a monastery in Jerusalem and arranged for necessities to be sent to the servants of God living there; he also offered three thousand pounds of gold annually to three thousand handmaids of God for their daily support, and every day he invited any pilgrims he could find to his own table. One day, among them... One of them approached, and as he was humbly trying to pour water over the man's hands, he turned to reach for the pitcher, but suddenly he couldn't find the person whose hands he had been trying to wash. While he was wondering what had happened, the Lord appeared to him in a vision that same night and said: 'On other days you have received me in my members, but yesterday you received me in my own person.' On another occasion, he instructed his chancellor to invite twelve pilgrims to dinner, and the chancellor went and carried out his orders. But while they were sitting together, the Pope looked over and counted thirteen, and calling the chancellor, he asked why he had presumed to invite thirteen against his instructions. The chancellor counted them and, finding only twelve, said: 'Believe me, Father, there are only twelve.' Gregory noticed that the man sitting nearby kept changing his expression, appearing at one moment as a young man and the next, with true dignity, as an old man. Once the meal was finished, he took him into a private room and urged him strongly to reveal his name and who he was. He replied, "Why do you ask about my name, which is wonderful?" Nevertheless, know that I am that shipwrecked man to whom you gave the silver bowl your mother sent you with some vegetables; and be certain of this: from the day you gave it to me, the Lord destined you to become the leader of His Church and the successor of the Apostle Peter. Gregory asked him, "And how did you know that the Lord had destined me at that time to preside over His Church?" But he said, "Because I am His angel, and the Lord has sent me to you now so that I might always protect you, and so that you may be able to obtain from Him everything you ask through me." And he immediately vanished from his sight. At that time, there was a hermit, a man of great virtue, who had left everything behind for God's sake and owned nothing but a single cat, which he would often stroke and keep warm in his lap as if it were his companion. He prayed to God, therefore, to show him with whom he should expect to share a dwelling in the future reward, since for the love of God he possessed nothing of the riches of this world. One night, it was revealed to him that he should expect to share a dwelling with Gregory, the Roman pontiff. But he groaned deeply, thinking that his voluntary poverty had been of little use if he were to receive the same reward as someone who abounded in such great worldly riches. When, therefore, he kept comparing Gregory's riches to his own poverty, sighing day and night, he heard the Lord saying to him on another night: "It is not the possession of riches that makes a man rich, but the desire for them. Why do you dare compare your poverty to Gregory's riches, when you are clearly more attached to that cat you have, stroking it daily, than he is to such great riches, which he does not love but rather despises, scattering them by giving them generously to everyone?" And so the hermit gave thanks to God, and he who had thought his own merit would be diminished if it were compared to Gregory's, began to pray that he might one day be worthy to share a dwelling with him. When he was falsely accused before Emperor Maurice and his sons regarding the death of a certain bishop, he wrote in a letter to the imperial representative: "There’s one thing I’d like you to briefly suggest to my masters: if I, their servant, had wanted to be involved in the death or ruin of the Lombards, the Lombard nation would have no king, no duke, and no counts today, and would be in total chaos; but because I fear God, I’m afraid to involve myself in the death of any man." Look at the depth of his humility: even though he was the supreme pontiff, he called himself the emperor's servant and addressed him as his master. . Look at the depth of his innocence, for he refused to consent to the death of his enemies, even when Emperor Maurice was persecuting him and the Church of God. Gregorium et ecclesiam Dei persequeretur. Among other things, Gregory wrote to him: "Because I am a sinner, I believe that you appease Almighty God all the more, the more you afflict me, who serves Him poorly." At one point, a man dressed in a monastic habit stood fearlessly before the emperor, holding a drawn sword in his right hand, and brandishing it against him, he predicted that he would die by the sword. Terrified by Gregory's persecution, Maurice relented and ceased, and he urgently begged Gregory to pray for him, that God might punish him in this life for his sins and not reserve him for punishment at the final judgment. At one point, Maurice saw himself standing before a judge's tribunal and heard the judge proclaim, "Hand over Maurice." The officers seized him and brought him before the judge. The judge asked him, "Where do you want me to repay you for the evils you committed in this life?" He replied, "Repay me here, Lord, and not in the life to come." Immediately, a divine voice ordered that Maurice, his wife, and his children be handed over to the soldier Phocas to be killed. This is exactly what happened; not long after, Phocas, one of his soldiers, killed him and his entire family with a sword and succeeded him as emperor. When he was celebrating Mass at Saint Mary Major on Easter Day and said, "The peace of the Lord," an angel of the Lord answered in a loud voice, "And with your spirit." That is why the Pope holds a station at that church on Easter Day, and when he says, "The peace of the Lord," no one answers him, as a testimony to this miracle. Once, when the Roman Emperor Trajan was rushing off to a war, a widow met him in tears and said, "I beg you, please see justice done for the blood of my son, who was killed without cause." When Trajan promised to see to it if he returned safely, the widow asked, "But who will do this for me if you die in battle?" Trajan replied, "Whoever rules after me." The widow said to him, "And what good will it do you if someone else grants me justice?" Trajan replied, "None at all." The widow said, "Isn't it better for you to do me justice yourself and receive the reward for it, rather than passing that duty on to someone else?" Then Trajan, moved by compassion, got down from his horse and right there saw justice done for the innocent blood. It's also said that when one of Trajan's sons was riding through the city recklessly and killed the son of a certain widow, the widow tearfully brought the matter to Trajan. He then handed over his own son, who had committed the act, to the widow in place of her own dead son and provided for her generously. So, on one occasion, long after Trajan had died, Gregory was passing through Trajan’s Forum and, remembering the gentleness of that judge, he went to the Basilica of Saint Peter and there wept bitterly for his error. Then he received this answer from God: "Look, I have fulfilled your request and spared Trajan from eternal punishment; but from now on, be very careful not to offer prayers for anyone who is damned." Damascenus, however, mentions in one of his sermons that when Gregory was praying for Trajan, he heard a voice from God say: "I have heard your voice, and I grant mercy to Trajan." The entire East and West are witnesses to this fact, as he says in the same place. Regarding this, some have said that Trajan was brought back to life, where he obtained grace and earned forgiveness, and thus attained glory, and was not finally consigned to hell, nor was he under a sentence of damnation. defined as damned. Others have said that Trajan's soul was not simply absolved from the guilt of eternal punishment, but that his punishment was suspended until a certain time—namely, until the Day of Judgment. Others say that the punishment, regarding its location or some mode of torment, was set under a condition, until, through Gregory's prayer, the location or mode was changed by the grace of Christ. Others, like John the Deacon who compiled this legend, say that it is not read that he prayed, but that he wept; and frequently the Lord, in His mercy, grants what a person does not presume to ask for, even though they desire it, and that his soul was not liberated from hell and placed in paradise, but simply liberated from the torments of hell. "A soul can," he says, "exist even in hell and, through God's mercy, not feel the torments of hell." Others say that eternal punishment consists of two things: the punishment of sense and the punishment of loss, which is the lack of the divine vision. Eternal punishment, therefore, is remitted for him regarding the first, but retained regarding the second. It is also said that the angel added this: because you prayed for a damned soul, you are given a choice of two things; you will either be tormented in purgatory for two days, or you will certainly be worn down by infirmities and pains for the whole time of your life. He chose to be shaken by pains for the whole time of his life rather than be tormented in purgatory for two days. From this it happened that he always suffered afterward, either from fevers, or pressed by the trouble of gout, or shaken by severe pains, or miraculously tormented by stomach pain. In a certain letter, he writes: 'I am pressed by such gout and such painful troubles that my life is a heavy punishment to me; daily I fail in pain and sigh, awaiting the remedy of death.' He says elsewhere: 'My pain is sometimes mild, sometimes excessive, but it is neither so mild that it leaves, nor so excessive that it kills.' And so it happens that, though I am in death every day, I am kept from dying. The infection of this harmful humor has taken such a hold on me that living is a punishment, and I long for death, which I believe is the only remedy for my sighs. Also. A certain noblewoman used to offer bread to blessed Gregory every Sunday. When he was offering her the Body of the Lord during the solemnity of the Mass and saying, 'May the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ bring you to everlasting life,' she smiled in a light-minded way. He immediately pulled his hand away from her mouth, placed that part of the Lord's Body back on the altar, and later asked her before the people why she had dared to laugh. But she replied: 'Because you were calling the bread that I had made with my own hands the Body of the Lord.' Then Gregory prostrated himself in prayer because of the woman's unbelief. When he rose, he found that the piece of bread had turned into flesh, looking like a finger, and in this way he brought the woman back to the faith. He prayed again, saw that the flesh had turned back into bread, and gave it to the woman to receive. When certain princes asked for some precious relics, he gave them a small piece of the dalmatic of Saint John the Evangelist; but they, receiving it as if it were a worthless relic, returned it to him with great indignation. Saint Gregory then prayed, took a small knife, and pierced the cloth, and blood immediately flowed from it; in this way, God showed how precious the relic truly was. A wealthy Roman, having left his wife, was barred from Communion by the Pope. He took this very hard, but since he couldn't undermine the authority of such a great pontiff, he sought the help of sorcerers, who promised they could use their spells to send a demon to torment the Pope's horse until it and its rider were in danger. When Gregory was riding his horse one day, the sorcerers sent a demon to torment the animal so violently that no one could control it. Then Gregory, realizing through the Spirit that this was a demonic attack, made the sign of the cross and freed the horse from its frenzy. He also struck the sorcerers with permanent blindness, though they later confessed their guilt and came to receive the grace of holy baptism. He refused to restore their sight so they wouldn't return to the magic arts, but he did order that they be supported by the Church. It's also read in the book the Greeks call the Lymon that the abbot who was in charge of Saint Gregory's monastery told him that a certain monk had three coins in his possession. Gregory excommunicated him to strike fear into the others. Later on, the brother died without Saint Gregory knowing it; Gregory, angry that he had died without receiving absolution, wrote a prayer on his epitaph by which he absolved him from the bond of excommunication. He gave it to one of the deacons, instructing him to read it over the grave of the deceased brother. When the deacon carried out these orders, the one who had died appeared to the abbot the following night and testified that he had been held in custody until then, but had been set free the day before. He established the ecclesiastical office and chant, as well as a school for singers, and for this purpose he built two dwellings—one near St. Peter's Basilica and the other near the Lateran Church—where his bed, on which he used to recline while composing music, and his whip, with which he used to threaten the boys, are still kept today with appropriate veneration, along with an authentic antiphonary. In the Canon of the Mass, he added: 'Order our days in your peace, and command that we be delivered from eternal damnation and numbered among the flock of your elect.' Finally, after the blessed Gregory had reigned for thirteen years, six months, and ten days, he departed from the body, full of good works. These verses are inscribed on his tomb: Receive, O earth, this body taken from your own, so that you may return it when God gives it life. The spirit seeks the stars; the snares of death will not harm it, though others may suffer for their sins. For him, death itself is more of a path to another life. The remains of the supreme Pontiff are enclosed in this tomb, he who lived always and everywhere in countless good works. These years passed from the incarnation of the Lord in 606, during the reign of Emperor Phocas. After the death of the blessed Gregory, a great famine struck the entire region, so the poor whom Gregory used to feed generously came to his successor and said, "Master, please don't let us, whom our father Gregory used to feed, die of hunger under your holiness." The pope, indignant at these words, always replied: "If Gregory took it upon himself to feed all the people for the sake of his own reputation, we, however, cannot do so," and he always sent them away empty-handed. Because of this, Saint Gregory appeared to him three times and gently rebuked him for his stinginess and detraction, but he didn't care to change his ways at all. So, appearing to him a fourth time in a terrifying manner, he rebuked him and struck him lethally on the head; vexed by the pain, he died shortly after. While the famine was still raging, certain envious men began to slander Gregory, claiming that he had squandered the entire treasury of the Church like a spendthrift. Consequently, in retaliation, they swayed the minds of the others to burn his books. When they had already burned some and wanted to burn the rest, it is said that Peter the deacon, his most intimate friend—with whom he had discussed the four books of the Dialogues—resisted most vehemently, asserting that this would do nothing to erase his memory. He noted that copies were held in various parts of the world, adding that it was a monstrous sacrilege to burn so many and such great books of such a father, over whose head he himself had very frequently seen the Holy Spirit in the likeness of a dove. At last, he brought them to this resolution: that if he could confirm by oath that what he had said was true and deserved to die immediately, they would desist from burning the books; but if he were not meant to die, but survived to bear witness, he himself would also join the burners. It is said that Gregory told him that if he were to make public the miracle of the vision of the dove, he would not be able to live after that. So, when the venerable deacon Peter arrived, carrying the book of the Gospels with the deacon's ceremonial gear, he immediately touched the sacred Gospels and bore witness to Gregory's holiness; and, freed from the pain of death, he breathed his last while speaking words of true confession. A7. A certain monk of Saint Gregory’s monastery had gathered some private property for himself, but blessed Gregory appeared to another monk and told him to warn the man to give away his property and do penance, because he was going to die on the third day. Hearing this, the monk was terrified; he did penance and returned the property, but was soon seized by such a fever that from the dawn of the third day until the third hour, he kept thrusting his tongue out of his mouth because of the intense burning, until he breathed his last. It seemed. But when the monks standing around him were chanting psalms in his presence, they eventually stopped the psalmody and began to criticize him. He, however, immediately revived, and with a smile in his eyes, he said, “May the Lord forgive you, brothers. Why did you want to criticize me? You have caused me no small hindrance, for since I was being accused by you and the devil at the same time, I did not know which accusation to answer first; but if ever you see anyone departing... …you should show him compassion, not criticism, as he is going to the judgment of such a strict judge along with his accuser.” “For I stood in judgment with the devil, and with Saint Gregory’s help, I answered all his objections well; I only blushed when convicted of one objection, for which, as you saw, I was so tormented, and I have not yet been able to free myself from it.” When the brothers asked him about it, he said, “I do not dare to say, because when I was ordered by blessed Gregory to come to you, the devil complained about it greatly, thinking that God was sending me back to do penance for that cause; therefore, I gave blessed Gregory as a pledge that I would not reveal the accusation that had been stirred up to anyone.” He cried out immediately, "Andrea, Andrea, may you perish this year! It was your bad advice that drove me into this danger!" At once, his eyes rolled back in terror, and he breathed his last. There was a man in the city named Andrea who, at the very moment the dying monk cursed him with that danger, fell into such a severe illness that his flesh began to waste away, yet he could not die. He then called together the monks of Saint Gregory’s monastery and confessed that he had stolen certain monastery documents with the aforementioned monk and sold them to outsiders for money. Immediately, the man who had long been unable to die breathed his last in the middle of his confession. 8. At that time, as we read in the life of Saint Eugene, while the Ambrosian rite was still being observed by churches more than the Gregorian, the Roman pontiff named Adrian called a council where it was decreed that the Gregorian rite should be observed universally. Emperor Charlemagne, acting as the executor of this decree, traveled through various provinces and forced all the clergy to comply through threats and punishments, burning books of the Ambrosian rite everywhere and imprisoning many rebellious clerics. However, when the blessed Bishop Eugene set out for the council, he found that it had already been dissolved for three days; yet, through his own prudence, he persuaded the Pope to recall all the prelates who had attended the council and had already departed three days' journey away. Once the council was reconvened, the unanimous decision of all the fathers was that the Ambrosian and Gregorian missals should be placed upon the altar of the blessed Apostle Peter, the doors of the church should be locked securely and sealed most diligently with the seals of many bishops, and they themselves should spend the entire night in prayer, so that the Lord might reveal through some sign which of the two He preferred to be observed by the churches. They did exactly as they had ordered, and when they opened the church doors in the morning, they found both missals open upon the altar. Or, as others assert, they found the Gregorian missal completely dismantled and scattered about, but the Ambrosian missal open upon the altar exactly where they had placed it; by this sign they were divinely taught that the Gregorian rite should be spread throughout the whole world, but the Ambrosian should be observed only in its own church, and so the holy fathers, as they had been divinely taught, decreed it, and thus it is observed to this day. John the Deacon, who compiled the life of Saint Gregory, relates that while he was writing and compiling that life, a man distinguished by his priestly office stood by him as he slept and wrote by lantern light, or so it seemed to him; this man wore a garment so bright and so thin that, through its transparency, the blackness of the tunic underneath could be seen. He stepped closer, and with puffed-out cheeks, he couldn't hold back his laughter. When John asked why a man of such serious office was laughing so unrestrainedly, he replied, "Because you are writing about the dead, whom you never saw while they were alive." John said to him, "Even if I never saw him face-to-face, I am still writing about him based on what I have learned from reading." But he replied: "You, as I see it, have done as you wished, and I will not stop doing what I can." He immediately extinguished the lantern's light and terrified him so much that, crying out violently, he thought he had been run through by that man's sword. Soon Gregory appeared, accompanied by Saint Nicholas on his right and Peter the Deacon on his left, and said to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" While the adversary was hiding behind the bed curtain, Gregory snatched a large torch from Peter the Deacon's hand—or so it seemed—and used its flames to burn the adversary's face and mouth, blackening him like an Ethiopian. However, a tiny spark fell onto his white garment and set it ablaze faster than a word could be spoken, and he appeared completely black. Peter said to Saint Gregory: "We have blackened him enough." Gregory replied to him: "We have not blackened him, but rather demonstrated that he was already black." And so, leaving much light behind, they departed.
Read the original Latin
Mathias hebraice, latine dicitur donatus domino vel donatio domini vel humilis sive parvulus. Nam donatus a domino fuit, quando ipsum. de mundo elegit et inter LXXII discipulos designavit. Donatio domini fnit, quando sorte electus inter apostolos nominari promeruit. Parvus fuit, quia veram semper humilitatem servavit. Est autem triplex humilitas (sicut dicit Ambrosius), prima est afflictionis, qua quis dicitur humiliatus, secunda considerationis, quae procedit ex consideratione sui, tertia devotionis, quae procedit ex cognitione creatoris. Primam habuit beatus Mathias martirium patiendo, secunda se ipsum despiciendo , tertiam, majestatem Dei admirando. Vel dicitur a manu, quod est bonum, et thesis positio.
Inde Mathias bonum positum pro malo, scilicet pro Juda, Ejus vitam, quae per ecclesias legitur, Bedam scripsisse creditur.
Mathias apostolus in locum Judae substitutus est, sed primo ortum et originem ipsius Judae breviter videamus. Legitur enimi in quadam hystoria licet apocrypha, quod fuit quidam vir in Jerusalem nomine Ruben, qui alio nomine dictus est Symon de tribu Dan, vel secundum Hieronymum de tribu Ysaschar, qui habuit uxorem, quae Cyborea nuncupata est. Quadam igitur nocte cum sibi mutuo debitum exsolvissent, GCyborea obdormiens somnium vidit, quod perterrità cum gemitibus et suspiriis viro suo retulit dicens: videbatur mihi, quod filium flagitiosum parerem, qui totius gentis nostrae causa perditionis exsisteret: Cui Ruben: nmefariam rem, inquit, nec relatu dignam profaris et spiritu, ceu puto, phitonico raperis. Cui illa: si me concepisse sensero et filium peperero, absque dubio non spiritus phitonicus exstitit, sed revelatio certa fuit. Procedente igitur tempore cum filium peperisset, parentes plurimum timuerunt, et quid de eo facerent, cogitare coeperunt, cumque filium abhorrerent occidere, nec vellent destructorem sui generis enutrire, ipsum in fiscella positum mari exponunt, quem marini fiuctus ad insulam propulerunt, quae Scarioth dicitur. Ab illa igitur insula Judas Scariotes appellatus est, regina autem illius loci carens liberis ad littus maris causa spatiandi processit et fiscellam a marinis fluctibus jactari videns, ipsam aperiri praecepit inveniensque ibi puerum elegantis formae suspirans ait: o si solatiis tantae sublevarer sobolis, ne regni mei privarer successore. Puerum igitur secreto nutriri fecit et se gravidam simulavit, tandem se filium peperisse mentitur et per totum regnum fama haec celebris divulgatur. Princeps pro suscepta sobole vehementer exsultat et ingenti gaudio plebs laetatur.
Ipsum igitur secundum magnificentiam regiam educari fecit, non post multum vero temporis regina de rege concepit et suo tempore filium parturivit. Cum autem pueri aliquantulum jam crevissent, ad invicem saepius colludebant et puerum regium Judas crebris molestiis et injuriis molestabat et ad fletum saepius provocabat, regina autem hoc moleste ferens et Judam ad se non pertinere sciens ipsum crebrius verberavit. Sed nec sic a molestia pueri desistebat. — Tandem res panditur et Judas non verus reginae filius, sed inventus aperitur. Quod Judas ut comperit, vehementer erubuit et fratrem suum putativum filium regis latenter occidit. Ob hoc capitalem sententiam timens cum tributariis in Jerusalem aufugit seque curiae Pylati, tunc praesidis, maucipavit (et quoniam res similes sibi sunt habiles) Pylatus Judam suis moribns invenit congruere et ideo coepit ipsum valde carum habere.
Universae igitur curiae Pylatl Judas praeficitur et ad ejus nutum omnia disponuntur. Quadam igitur die Pylatus de palatio suo in quoddam pomoerium aspiciens, illorum pomorum tanto desiderio captus est, ut paene deficere videretur. Erat antem illud pomoerium Ruben, patris Judae, sed nec Judas patrem neque Ruben filium agnoscebat, quia et Ruben ipsum his marinis fluctibus periisse putabat et Judas, quis pater aut quae patria sua fuerit, penitus ignorabat. Pylatus itaque accersito Juda ait: tanto illorum fructuum captus sum desiderio, quod, si his frustratus fuero, spiritum exhalabo. Concitus igitur Judas in pomoerium insiliit et velocius mala carpit. Interea Ruben venit et Jadam mala sua carpentem invenit: fortiter igitur ambo contendunt et jurgia superaddunt, post jurgia surgunt ad verbera et mutuis se injuriis affecerunt. Tandem Judas Ruben in ea parte, qua cervix collo connectitur, lapide percussit, pariter et occidit. Poma igitur sustulit et Pylato, quid acciderit, enarravit.
Jam die inclinante et nocte superveniente Ruben mortuus invenitur et subitanea morte praeventus esse putatur, tunc Pylatus omnes facultates Ruben Judae tradidit et Cyboream uxorem Ruben conjugem Judae dedit. Quadam igitur die dum Cyborea graviter suspiraret et Judas vir ejus, quid haberet, diligenter interrogaret , illa respondit: heu infelicissima sum omnium feminarum, quia infantulum meum marinis fluctibus immersi et virum meum morte praeventum inveni, sed et dolori misere Pylatus addidit dolorem, qui me moestissimam nuptui tradidit et invitissimam tibi in conjugem copulavit. — Cumque illa omnia de infantulo enarrasset et Judas illa, quae sibi acciderant, retulisset, inventum est, quod Judas matrem suam in uxorem duxerit et patrem suum occiderit. Poenitentia igitur dnctus suadente Cyborea dominum nostrum Jesum Christum adiit et suorum delictorum veniam imploravit. Hucusque in praedicta hystoria apocrypha legitur, quae utrum recitanda sit, lectoris arbitrio relinquatur, licet sit potius- relinquenda quam asserenda. Dominus autem suum eum fecit discipulum et de discipulo in suum elegit apostolum, qui adeo sibi familiaris exstitit et dilectus, ut eum faceret suum procuratorem, quem postmodum pertulit suum proditorem. Portabat enim loculos et ea, quae Christo dabantur, furabatur. Dolens vero tempore dominicae passionis, quod unguentum, quod trecentos denarios valebat, non fuerat venditum, ut illos etiam denarios furaretur, abiit et dominum XXX denariis vendidit, quorum unusquisque valebat decem denarios usuales et damuum unguenti trieentorum denariorum recompeusavit ; vel (ut quidam àjunt) omnium, quae pro Christo dabantur, decimam partem furabatur et ideo pro decima parte, quam in unguento amiserat, scilicet pro XXX denariis, dominum vendidit, quos tamen poenitentia ductus retulit et abiens laqueo e suspendit et suspensus crepuit medius et diffusa sunt omnia viscera ejus.
Ìn hoc autem delatum est ori, ne per os effunderetur, non enim dignum erat, ut os tam viliter inquinaretur, quod tam gloriosum os scilicet Christi contigerat. Dignum enim erat, ut viscera, qnae proditionem conceperant, rupta caderent et guttur, a quo vox proditoris exierat, laqueo artaretur. In aére etiam interiit, ut qui angelos in coelo et homines in terra offenderat, ab angelorum et hominum regione separaretur et in aére cum daemonibus sociaretur. Cum igitur inter ascensionem et penthecosten apostoli in coenaculo simul essent, videns Petrus, quod numerus XII apostolorum erat imminutus, quos tamen dominus in hoc numero elegerat, ut fidem trinitatis in quattuor mundi partibus praedicarent, surrexit in medio fratrum dicens: viri fratres, oportet ut aliquem loco Judae substituamus, qui testetur nobiscum resurrectionem Christi, quia dominus dixit nobis: eritis mihi testes in Jerusalem et in omni Judaea et in Samaria et usque ad ultimum terrae: et quia testis nonnisi de his, quae vidit, debet testimonium ferre, eligendus est unus ex his viris, qui nobiscum semper fuerunt,' et domini miracula viderunt et ejus doctrinam andierunt. Et statuerunt duos de septuaginta dnobus discipulis, scilicet Joseph, qui cognominatus est justus pro sanctitate sua, qui fuit frater Jacobi Alphei, et Mathiam, de cujus laude subticetur, quia sufficit ei pro laude, quod in apostolum est electus. Et orantes dixerunt: tu domine, qui nosti corda omnium, ostende, quem elegeris ex his duobus unum accipere locum ministerii hujus et apostolatus, quem Judas amisit, . et datis illis sortibus cecidit sors super Mathiam et annumeratus est cum XI apostolis. Et notandum, quod exemplo hoc, ut ait Hieronymus, non est sortibus utendum, quia privilegia paucorum communem legem non faciunt.
Rursus etiam, sicut dicit Beda, donec veniret veritas, figuram licuit observare. Vera enim hostia in passione fuit immolata, sed in Penthecoste consummata et ideo in electione Mathiae sortibus usi sunt, ne a lege discreparent, in qua summus sacerdos sorte quaerebatur. Post Penthecosten vero jam veritate propalata sepiem dyacones non sorte sed discipulorum electione et apostolorum oralione. et manuum impositione ordinati sunt. ujusmodi autem hae sortes fuerint, duae sanctorum patrum exstant sententiae, Hieronymus enim et Beda volunt, quod hae sortes tales fnerunt, quales illae, quarum in veteri lege creberrimus usus erat. Dyonisius autem, qui fuit Pauli discipulus, irreligiosum existimat dioc arbitrari, asserens sibi videri, quod illa sors nihil aliud fuerit nisi quidam splendor et radius divinitus super Mathiam emissus, per quem ipse ostendebatur in apostolum assumendus. Ait enim sic in libro Coelestis Hierarchiae: de divina autem sorte, quae super Mathiam divinitus cecidit, alii quidam alia dixerunt non religiose, sieut arbitror, meam autem et ipse intentionem dicam. .
Videntur enim mihi eloquia sortem nominare tlhearticum quoddam donum demonstrans ili theartico choro a divina electione susceptum. Hie igitur MaAhias apostolus Judaeam in sortem accepit et praedicationi ibidem insistens et multa miracula faciens in pace quievit. In nonnullis vero codicibus legitur, quod patibulum crucis pertulit et tali mariyrio coronatus coelos adscendit, Hujus corpus Romae in ecclesia Sanctae Mariae Majoris sub lapide porphiretico sepultum esse dicitur et ibidem capat ejus populo demonstratur. In quadam vero legenda, quae Treveris invenitur, sic inter caetera legitur, Mathias de tribu Juda et civitate Betlehem illustri prosapia oriundus fuit, qui litteris tradiius omnem in brevi legis et prophetarum scientiam apprehendit lasciviamque abhorrens pueriles annos morum maturitate vincebat. Informabatur quoque ejus animus ad"virtutem, ut esset ad intelligentiam habilis, ad misericordiam facilis, in prosperis non elatus, in adversis constans et intrepidus. Satagebat, ut, quod jussu praeceperat, opere compleret et oris doctrinam manuum operatione monstraret. Hic cum per Judaeam praedicaret, caecos illuminabat, leprosos mundabat, daemones expellebat, claudis gressum, surdis auditum, mortuis vitam restituebat. Qui cum coram pontifice accusaretur, in multis respondit: de objectis, quae crimina dicitis, non opus me multa dicere, quoniam christianum esse non est criminis, sed gloriae.
Cui pontifex: si tibi dantur induciae, vis poenitere ? Et ille: absit, ut a veritate, quam semel inveni, per apostasiam digrediar. Igitur Mathias in lege erat doctissimus, corde mundus, animo prudens, in solvendis quaestionibus sacrae scriplurae acutus, in consilio providus, in sermocinatione expeditus. Qui cum verbum bene orat. Ejus vitam scripsit Paulus Longobardorum hystoriographus, quam Johannes dyaconus diligentius postmodum compilavit. 3. Gregorius senatoria stirpe progenitus, cujus pater Gordianus et mater Silvia dicebatur, cam summum philosophiae apicem in ipsa sui adolescentia attigisset ac rerum et divitiarum copia plurimum abundaret, cogitavit tamen haec omnia deserere et in religionem se transferre. Sed dum longius conversionem protraheret et ut tutius se Christo famulaturum putaret, si sub praetoris urbani habitu mundo specie tenus deserviret, coeperunt multra contra eum ex saeculi cura suecrescere, ita ut non tantum specie, sed in eo retineretur et mente, Tandem patre orbatus sex monasteria in Sicilia construxit, septimum intra moenia urbis sub honore sancti Andreae apostoli in proprio domate fabricavit, in quo relictis sericis auro gemmisque radiantibus vili monastico habitu tegebatur.
Ubi ad tantam perfectionem in brevi devenit, ut in ipso suae conversionis initio posset jam in perfectorum numero computari. Cujus quidem perfectio ex verbis suis, quae in prologo super dialogum ponit, aliqualiter perpendi potest, ubi sie dicit: infelix animus meus oceupationis suae pulsatus vulnere meminit, qualis aliquando in monasterio fuit, quomodo ei labentia cuncta subtererant, quantum rebus omnibus, quae volvuntur, eminebat, quod nulla, nisi coelestia cogitare consueverat, quod etiam retentus corpore ipsa jam carnis claustra contemplatione transibat, quod mortem quoque, quae paene cunctis poena est, videlicet ut ingressum vitae et praemium laboris sui amabat. Tanta denique districtione corpus suum afflixit, ut infirmato stomacho subsistere vix valeret et incisionem vitalium, quam Graeci syncopim vocant, patiens crebris augustiis per horarum momenta ad exitum propinquaret.
Quadam vice dum quodam in monasterio suo, ubi abbas praeerat, scriptitaret, angelus domini in specie naufragi sibi affuit sibique misereri lacrymabilitet postulavit. Cui cum Gregorius sex argenteos dari fecisset et abiisset, eadem die iterum rediit, seque multa perdidisse, panca vero accepisse perhibuit. Qui cum ab eo totidem argenteos recepissct, iterum viee tertia reversus misereri sibi importunis clamoribus postulabat, sed Gregorius cum a procuratore sui monasterii didicisset, nihil dandum praeter scutellam argenteam, quam mater sua cum leguminibus mittere solebat, in monasterio remansisse, illam statim dari praecepit, quam libenter accipiens laetus abscessit. Hic autem angelus domini fuit, sicut se ipsum postmodum revelavit,
Quadam die beatus Gregorius per forum urbis Romae transiens cernit quosdam pueros forma pulcherrimos, vultu venustos, capillorum nitore perspicuos esse venales. Interrogat igitur mercatorem, de qua illos patria attulisset. Qui respondit: de Britannia, cujus incolae simili candore fulgent. Interrogat iterum, si christiani sunt, Cui mercator: non, sed paganicis erroribus implicati tenentur. Tunc Gregorius acriter ingemiscens: heu proh dolor, inquit, quod splendidas facies princeps tenebrarum nunc possidet. —Interrogat igitur, quod esset vocabulum gentis illius. Cui ille: Anglici vocantur. Bene; inquit, anglici quasi angelici, quia et angelicos vultus habent.
Interrogavit igitur eum, quod nomen haberet illa provincia. Ait mercator: provinciales illi Deiri vocantur. Et Gregorius: bene, inquit, Deiri vocantur, quia de ira sunt eruendi. Rursus de nomine regis interrogat. Ait mercator, quod Aelle diceretur, et Gregorius: bene Aelle, quia alleluja in partibus illis decantari opus. Qui mox ad summum pontificem accedens cum multa instantia et precibus vix obtinuit, ut ad illos convertendos mitteretur. Cumque jam iter arripuisset, Romani de ejus ahsentia plurimum perturbati papam adeunt et eum taliter alloquuntur: Petrum offendisti, Romam destruxisti, Gregorium demisisti, sicque papa perterritus ad eum revocandum continuo nuntios destinavit. Cumque Gregorius jam iter trium dierum peregisset et in quodam loco devertens quaedam caeteris quiescentibus lectitaret, locusta superveniens eum coegit a legendo quiescere et ex consideratione sui nominis docuit eum in eodem loco stare debere, quod ille spiritu prophetico discens statim comites adhortatur, ut velocius debeant proficisci, sed supervenienfibus apostolicis nuntiis redire compellitur, licet de hoc plurimum tristaretur.
Tunc papa ipsum a monasterio suo abstraxit et suum dyaconem cardinalem ordinavit.
Quodam tempore Tyberis fluvius alveum suum egressus in tantum excrevit, ut super muros urbis influeret et plurimas domos everteret. Tunc etiam per Tyberim fluvium multitudo serpentum cum dracone magno in mare descendit, sed a fluctibus praefocati et ad littus projecti totum aërem sna putredine corruperunt sicque plaga pessima, quam inguinariam vocant, secuta est, ita ut etiam corporali visu sagittae coelitus venire et singulos quosque percutere viderentur. Quae primo omnium Pelagium papam percussit et sine mora exstinxit, postmodum vero ita in reliquum vulgus desaeviit, ut subtractis habitatoribus domos plurimas vacuas in urbe reliquerit. Sed quia ecclesia Del sine rectore esse non poterat, Gregorium licet totis viribus renitentem plebs omnis elegit. Cum ergo benedici deberet et lues populum devastaret, sermonem ad populum fecit et processionem faciens litanias instituit et, ut omnes Deum attentius exorarent, admonuit. Cum igitur Deum omnis congregatus populus exoraret; in tantum lues ipsa desaeviit, ut in una hora homines XC spiritum exhalarent, sed nequaquam cessavit populum admonere, nt ab oratione nunquam desisterent, donec pestem ipsam divina propulsaret miseratio. Finita processione fugere voluit, sed nequivit, quia die noctuque portas urbis propter eum vigiles observabant, Tandem mutato habitu a quibusdam negotiatoribus obtinuit, nt in quodam dolio super quadrigam de urbe educeretur. Qui mox sylvam expetiit, cavernarum latibula requisivit ibique tribus diebus latuit, Verumtamen dum sollicite quaereretur, columna lucida perfulgida a coelo dependens super locum, in quo latitabat, apparuit, in qua columna angelos descendentes et ascendentes quidam reclusus aspexit, moxque ab universo populo capitur, irahitur et summus pontifex consecratur.
Quod vero ad hoc honoris culmen invitus ascenderit, qui verba sua legit, patenter advertit. Nam in epistola ad Narsum patritinm sic ait: dum contemplationis alta describitis, ruinae meae mihi gemitum renovatis, quia audivi, quod intus perdidi, dum foras ad culmen regiminis immeritus adscendi. Tanto autem me moerore percussum cognoscite, ut vix loqui sufficiam. Nolite ergo me vocare Noemi, id. est pulchrum, sed vocate me Mara, quia amaritndine plenus sum. Item alibi: quod me ad episcopatus ordinem cognoscitur pervenisse, si me diligitis, plangite, quia et ego incessanter defleo atque nt Deum pro me exoretis, rogo. In prologo quoque super dialogum sic ait: ex occasione curae pastoralis animus meus saecularium hominum negotia patitur et post tam pulchram suae quietis speciem terreni actus pulvere foedatur. Perpendo itaque, quid tolero, perpendo quid amisi.
Dum intueor illud, quod perdidi, fit hoc gravius, quod porto, ecce enim nunc magis maris finctibus quatior atque in navi mentis tempestatis valide procellis illidor et cum prioris vitae recolo, quasi post tergum ductis oculis viso littore suspiro. Sed quia Romam adhnc praedicta pestis vastabat, more solito processionem cum litaniis per civitatis cireuitum iuodam tempore paschali ordinavit, in qua imaginem beatae Marlae semper virginis, quae adhuc, nt ajunt, est Romae in ecclesia, quae dicitur Sancta Maria Major, quam Lucas arte medicus et pictor egregius formasse dicitur et eidem virgini simillima per omnia perhibetur, ante processionem reverenter portari fecit. Et ecce tota aéris infectio et turbulentia imagini cedebat, ac si ipsam imaginem fugeret et ejus praesentiam ferre non posset, sicque post imaginem mira serenitas et aéris puritas remanebat. Tunc in aére, ut refertur, juxta imaginem auditae sunt voces angelorum cantantium: regina coeli laetare alleluja, quia quem meruisti portare alleluja resurrexit, sicut dicit alleluja. Statimque beatus Gregorius, quod sequitur, adjunxit: ora pro nobis, Deum rogamus, alleluja. Tunc beatus Gregorius vidit supra castrum Crescentii angelum domini, qui gladium cruentatum detergens in vaginam remittebat, intellexitque Gregorius, quod pestis illa cessasset, et sic factum est. Unde et castrum illud castrum angeli deinceps vocatum est. Tandem, ut desideraverat, Augustinum, Mellitum et Johannem cum quibusdam aliis in Angliam misit et eos suis precibus et nieritis ad fidem convertit.
Tantae etiam humilitatis beatus Gregorius exstitit, ut se laudare nullo modo permitteret. Nam Stephano episcopo, qui eum in suis epistolis laudaverat, ita scripsit: multum mihi (et ultra quam audire debui indignus) favorem in vestris epistolis demonstratis et tamen scriptum est: ne laudes hominem, quamdiu vivit, tamen etsi audire talia dignus non fui; orationibus vestris peto, ut dignus efficiar, ut, si bona ideo in me dixistis, quia non sunt, ideo sint, quae dixistis. Item in epistola ad Narsum patritium: quod causae et nominis similitudinem faciendo per scripturas clausulas declamationesque formatis, certe frater carissime simiam leonem vocas, quod eo modo nos agere conspicimus, quo scabiosos catulos saepe pardos vel tigres vocamus. Item in epistola ad Anastasium patriarcham Antiochenum: quod vos me os domini, quod lucernam dicitis, quod loquendo multis prodesse multisque posse lucere perhibetis, existimationem meam, fateor, mihi in maximam dubitationem perduxistis. Considero namque, qui sum, et nihil in me ex hujusmodi boni signo deprehendo: considero autem, qui estis et vos mentiri posse non arbitror. Cum ergo credere volo, quod dicitis, contradicit mihi infirmitas mea, cum disputare volo, quod in laudem meam dicitur, contradicit mihi sanctitas vestra. Sed quaeso, vir sancte, nobis aliquid de hoc certamine nostro conveniat, ut si non, quod dicitis, ita est, sit ita, quia dicitis. Vocabula etiam jactantia vel ntilitatem sonantia omnino respuebat, unde Eulogio patriarchae Alexandrino, qui eum universalem papam vocaverat, ita scribit: in praefatione epistolae, quam ad me direxistis, superbae appellationis verbum, universalem me papam dicentes, imprimere curavistis.
Quod, peto, dulcissima sanctitas vestra ultra non faciat, quia vobis subtrahitur, quod alteri plus quam ratio exigat, praebetur. Ego enim verbis prosperari non quaero, sed moribus, nec honorem esse deputo, in quo fratres honorem suum perdere cognosco. Recedant ergo verba, quae vanitatem inflant, caritatem vulnerant. Hine est, quod cum Johannes episcopus Constantinopolitanus hoc vocabulum vanitatis sibi usurparet et se universalem papam vocari a synodo fraudulenter obtinuisset, inter caetera sic de eo scribit’ Gregorius: quis est iste, qui contra statuta evangelica, contra canonum decreta novum sibi nomen usurpare praesumit, ut velut sine minutione sit unus, qui appetit esse universus. Verbum etiam jussionis sibi a coepiscopis dici nolebat, unde ait in epistola ad Eulogium episcopum Alexandrinum: vestra mihi caritas loquitur dicens; sicut jussistis, quod verbum jussionis peto a meo auditu removeri, quia scio, qui sum et qui estis; loco enim mihi fratres estis, moribus patres. Insuper ob nimiam humilitatem, qua erat praeditus, nolebat quod matronae se ancillas suas dicerent. Unde Rusticanae patriciae scribens ait: unum in tuis epistolis aegre suscepi, quia, quod semel esse poterat, saepius dicebatur: ancilla vestra, et ancilla vestra. Ego enim, qui per episcopatus onera omnium servus sum factus, qua ratione te mihi ancillam dicis?
cujus ante episcopatus susceptum proprius fui, et ideo rogo per omnipotentem Deum, ne hoc verbum aliquando ad me in scriptis tuis inveniam. Primus in suis epistolis se servum servorum Dei nominavit et alios nominari instituit. Libros suos, dum adhuc viveret, ob nimiam humilitatem publicari nolebat et in aliorum eomparatione suos nihil valere aestimabat, unde Innocentio praefecto Africae sic scribit: quod expositionem scilicet Job vobis transmitti voluistis, vestro studio congaudemus, sed si delicioso cupitis pabulo saginari, beati Augustini compatriotae vestri opuscula legite et ad comparationem illius similaginis nostrum fnrfurem non quaeratis, neque enim volo, dum in hac carne sum, si quid dixisse me contigit, ea facile hominibus- innotesci. Legitur quoque in quodam libro de Graeco in Latinum translato, quod quidam sanctus pater nomine abbas Johannes, cum Romam ad risitanda apostolorum limina venisset et beatum Gregorium papam per medium civitatis transire videret, voluit ei occurrere ae, ut 'decebat, reverentiam exhibere. Cernens vero beatus Gregorius, qnod se in terram vellet prosternere, festinavit et primo se coram ipso in terram prostravit nec inde surrexit, quoadusque abbas primo surrexisset; in quo maxima ejus humilitas commendatur.
Tantac autem largitatis eleemosinarum exstitit, ut non solum praesentibus, sed etiam longe positis et in monte Synay monachis necessaria ministraret, nam omnium indigentium nomina scripta habebat et iis liberaliter subveniebat. Monasterium Hierosolimis instituit et Dei famulis illic degentibus necessaria mittere procuravit; tribus quoque millibus ancillis Dei pro quotidianis stipendiis octo,ginta libras auri annualiter offerebat, quotidie etiam ad suam mensam peregrinos quoslibet invitabat. Inter quos die. quadam unus accessit, in cujus manibus dum ipse ex humilitate aquam fundere vellet, conversus urceum accepit, sed repente eum, in cujus manibus aquam fundere volebat, non invenit. Cumque hoc factum secum ipse miraretur, eadem nocte dominus per visionem ei dixit: caeteris diebus me in membris meis, hesterno autem die me in memet ipso suscepisti. Alio quoque tempore praecepit cancellario, ut duodecim peregrinos ad prandium invitaret, qui pergens jussa complevit. Dum autem simul discumberent, intuens papa tredecim numeravit et accersito cancellario, cur contra suam jussionem tredecim invitare praesumserat, inquisivit. Quos cancellarius numerans et tantum duodecim inveniens ait: crede mihi pater, non sunt nisi duodecim.
Animadvertit Gregorius, virum propins discumbentem vultum crebro mutare et nunc adolescentem nunc vero sibi vetulum veneranda quadam. canitie simulare, finito igitur convivio illum in cubiculo duxit, vehementer adjurans, ut ei se nomenque suum prodere dignaretur. Qui respondens ait: et cur interrogas de nomine meo, quod est mirabile? Verumtamen scito, quia ego sum naufragus ille, cui scutellam argenteam tribuisti, quam tibi miserat cum leguminibus mater tua, et hoc tibi pro certo sit cognitum, quia ab illo die, quo mihi dedisti, destinavit te dominus fieri ecclesiae suae praesulem et Petri apostoli successorem. Cui Gregorius: et tu quomodo hoc nosti, quod tunc me dominus praeesse suae ecclesiae destinaverit? At ille: quoniam angelus ejus snm et me tibi dominus nunc remisit, ut te semper debeam protegere et omne, quod petieris per me, apud ipsum valeas impetrare. Statimque ab co disparuit,
Eo tempore fuit quidam eremita, vir magnae virtutis, qui omnia propter Deum reliquerat et nihil praeter unam cattam possidebat, quam blandiens crebro quasi cohabitatricem in snis gremiis refovebat. Oravit igitur ad Deum, ut sibi ostendere dignaretur, cum quo futurae remunerationis mansionem sperare debuisset, qui illius amore nil ex divitiis hujus saeculi possideret. Quadam igitur nocte sibi revelatur, quod cum Gregorio, Romano pontifice, mansionem sibi sperare deberet. At ille fortiter ingemiscens parum sibi voluntariam paupertatem profuisse putabat, si cum eo remunerationem reciperet, qui tantis mundialibus divitiis abundaret. Cum ergo Gregorii divitias suae paupertati die noctuque suspirando conferret, alia nocte audivit dominum sibi dicentem: eum divitem non possessio divitiarum, sed cupido faciat, cur audes paupertatem tnam Gregorii divitiis comparare, qui magis illam cattam, quam habes, quotidie palpando diligere comprobaris, quam ille tantas divitias, quas non amando, sed contemnendo cunctisque liberaliter largiendo dispergit. Itaque solitarius Deo gratias retulit et qui meritum suum decrevisse putaverat, si Gregorio conferretur, orare coepit, ut um eo mansionem quandoque percipere mereretur.
Cum apud Mauritium imperatorem et filios ejus super morte cujusdam episcopi falso accusaretur, sic ait in epistola, quam apocrisario mittit: unum est, quod breviter suggeras dominis meis, qnia si ego servus eorum in mortem Longobardorum vel damnum me miscere voluissem, hodie Longobardorum gens nec regem nec ducem nec comites haberet atque in sua confusione esset, sed quia Deum timeo, in mortem cujuslibet hominis me miscere formido. Ecce quantae humilitatis exstitit, quia cum esset summus pontifex, imperatoris sc servum vocabat, dominum suum eum appellabat. . Ecce quantae innocentiae, quia in mortem inimicorum suorum consentire nolebat, cum Mauritius imperator. Gregorium et ecclesiam Dei persequeretur. Inter caetera sic ei scripsit Gregorius: quia enim peccator sum, credo, quod omnipotentem Deum tanto vobis amplius placatis, quanto me ei male servientem affligitis. Quadam igitur vice quidam monastico habitu indutus spatam evaginatam dextera tenens coram imperatore intrepidus adstitit et contra eum vibrans illum gladio moriturum praedixit. —Territus Manritins a persecutione Gregorii levisse praeferuht, 18 Pa cessavit et ut pro se orare deberet, instanter petiit, quatenus ipsum in hac vita de malis suis Deus puniret et non puniendum extremo examini reservaret.
Quadam igitur vice vidit se Mauritius ante tribunal judicis stare et judicem proclamare: date Mauritium. Et capientes eum ministri ipsum ante judicem posuerunt. Cui ille: ubi vis, ut reddam tibi mala, quae in hoc saeculo perpetrasti? llle respondit: hic potius ea domine mihi et non in saeculo futuro retribue. Statimque divina vox jussit tradi Mauritium, uxorem, filios et filias Phocae militi occidendos. Quod et factum est, non post multum enim temporis Phocas quidam miles ejus ipsum cum tota familia sua gladio occidit et ei in imperio successit.
Cum apud sanctam Mariam majorem in die paschae missam celebraret et pax domini pronuntiaret, angelus domini alta voce respondit: et cum spiritu tuo. Unde papa apud illam ecclesiam in die paschae stationem facit nec sibi, cum dicit pax domini, in hujus miraculi testimonium respondetur.
Quodam tempore Trajanus imperator Romanus ad quoddam bellum vehementissime féstinabat, cui vidua flebiliter occurrit dicens: obsecro ut sanguinem filii mei innocenter peremti vindicare digneris, cumque Trajanus, si sanus reverteretur, vindicare se testaretur, vidua dixit: et quis mihi hoc praestabit, si tu in proelio mortuus fueris? Trajanus dixit: ille, qui post me imperabit. Cui vidua: et tibi quid proderit, si alter mihi justitiam fecerit? Trajanus dixit: utique nihil. Et vidua: nonne, inquit, melius est tibi, ut mihi justitiam facias et pro hoc mercedem accipias, quam alteri hane transmittas? Tunc Trajanus pietate commotus de equo descendit et ibidem innocentis sanguinem vindicavit. Fertur quoque, quod cum quidam filius Trajani per urbem equitando nimis lascive discurreret, filium cujusdam viduae interemit, quod cum vidua Trajano lacrimabiliter exponeret, ipse filium suum, qui hoc fecerat, viduae loco filii sui defuncti tradidit et magnifice ipsam dotavit. Dum igitur quadam vice diu jam defuncto Trajano Gregorius per forum Trajani transiret et hujus mansuetudinem judicis recordatus fuisset, ad sancti Petri basilicam pervenit et ibidem pro ejus errore amarissime flevit.
Tunc sibi divinitus est responsum: ecce, petitionem tuam complevi et Trajano poenam aeternam peperci, de caetero autem diligentissime caveas, ne pro damnato aliquo preces fundas. Damascenus autem in quodam suo sermone narrat, quod Gregorius pro Trajano orationem fundens audivit vocem sibi divinitus illatam: vocem tuam audivi et veniam Trajano do. Cujus rei (ut ibidem dicit) testis est oriens omnis et occidens. Super hoc dixerunt quidam, quod Trajanus revocatus fuit ad vitam, ubi gratiam consecutus veniam meruit et sic gloriam obtinuit nec crat in inferno finaliter deputatus nec sententia !) definiti va damnatus. Alii dixerunt, quod anima Trajani non fuit simpliciter a reatu poenae aeternae absoluta, sed ejus poena usque ad tempus, scilicet usque ad diem judicii fuit suspensa. Alii, quod poena quo ad locum vel modum aliquem tormenti sub conditione fuit taxata, donec orante Gregorio per Christi gratiam locus vel modus aliquis mutaretur. Alii ut Johannes dyaconus, qui hanc legendam compilavit, quod non legitur orasse, sed flevisse; et frequenter dominus misertus concedit, quod homo quamvis desiderans petere non praesumit, et quod ejus anima non est ab inferno liberata et in paradiso reposita, sed simpliciter ab inferni cruciatibus liberata.
"Valet enim (ut dicit) anima et in inferno exsistere et inferni cruciatus per Dei misericordiam non sentire. Alii, quod poena aeterna consistit in duobus, scilicet in poena sensus et in poena damni, quod est carentia visionis divinae. Poena igitur aeterna quantum ad primum est sibi dimissa, sed quantum ad secundum retenta. Fertur quoque, quia ct angelus istud adjecerit: quia enim pro damnato rogasti, duorum tibi datur optio; aut enim in purgatorio duobus diebus cruciaberis aut certe toto tempore vitae tuae infirmitatibus et doloribus fatigaberis. Qui praeelegit toto tempore vitae suae doloribus concuti, quam duobus diebus in purgatorio cruciari. Unde factum est, quod semper deinceps ant febribus laboravit aut podagrae molestia pressus fuit aut validis doloribus conquassatus aut dolore stomachi mirabiliter cruciatus. Unde in quadam epistola sic loquitur dicens: tantis podagrae, tantis molestiarum doloribus premor, ut vita mea mihi gravissima poena sit, quotidie enim in dolore deficio et mortis remedium exspectando suspiro. ltem alibi: dolor meus interdum mihi lentus est, interdum nimius, sed neque ita lentus, ut recedat, neque ita nimius, ut interficiat.
Unde fit, ut, qui quotidie in morte sum, repellar a morte. Sic antem me infectio noxii humoris imbibit, ut vivere mihi poena sit et mortem desideranter exspectem, quam gemitibus meis solam credo esse remedium.
Al. Matrona quaedam singulis diebus dominicis beato Gregorio panes offerebat, cui cum per missarum sollemnia corpus domini offerret et diceret: corpus domini nostri Jesu Christi proficiat tibi in vitam aeternam, lasciva subrisit. llle continuo dexteram ab ejus ore convertens partem illam dominici corporis super altare deposuit, postmodum coram populo interrogavit, quam ob causam ridere praesumserit? At illa: quia panem, quem propriis manibus feceram, tu corpus dominicum appellabas. Tunc Gregorius pro incredulitate mulieris se in oratione prostravit et surgens particulam illam panis instar digiti carnem factam reperit et sic matronam ad fidem reduxit, Oravit iterum et carnem illam in panem conversam vidit et matronae sumendum tradidit.
Quibusdam principibus aliquas pretiosas reliquias petentibus aliquantulum de sancti Johannis evangelistae dalmatica tribuit, quod illi suscipientes tanquam viles reliquias cum indignatione nimia eidem reddiderunt. "Pune sanctus Gregorius oratione facta cultellum petiit et pannum illum pupugit, de cujus punctionibus sanguis protinus emanavit, sicque quam pretiosae essent reliquiae, divinitas est ostensum.
Quidam divitum Romanorum relicta conjuge fuerat a pontifice communione privatus, quod ille molestissime ferens, sed auctoritatem tanti pontificis evacuare non valens magorum suffragia requisivit, qui se suis carminibus agere promiserunt, ut immisso daemone tamdiu caballus pontificis vexaretur, quousque cum sessore suo periclitaretur. Gumque Gregorius aliquando super caballum suum transiret, immisso daemone magi ejus equum tam fortiter vexari fecerunt, ut nequaquam ab aliquo teneri valeret. Tune Gregorius revelante spiritu dyabolicam immissionem cognoscens facto crucis signaculo tam eaballum à praesenti rabie liberavit, quam maleficos perpetua caecitate muletavit, qui reatum suum confitentes ad sacri baptismi gratiam postmodum pervenerunt. Quibus lumen, ne artem magicam relegerent, reddi noluit, eos tamen ecclesiastico subsidio nntriri praecepit.
Legitur quoque in libro, qui a Graecis Lymon dicitur, quod abbas, qui praeerat monasterio sancti Gregorii, eidem nuntiavit, quod quidam monachus penes se numismata tria haberet. Quem Gregorius ad aliorum terrorem excommunicavit. Postmodum vero lemporis frater moritur sancto Gregorio nesciente, qui iratus, quod sine absolutione mortuus fuerat, orationem in opitaphio scripsit, qua eum ab excommunicationis vinculo absolvebat. Dedit eam uni dyaconorum praecipiens, ut eam super foveam fratris defnncti legeret. quo jussa complente sequenti nocte, qui defunctus fuerat, abbati apparuit et se usque modo in custodia detentum, sed heri absolutum fuisse perhibuit.
Ofücium et cantum ecclesiasticum nec non et scholam cantorum instituit et pro hoc duo habitacula, unum juxta basilicam Petri, alterum juxta Lateranensem ecclesiam fabricavit, ubi usque hodie lectus ejus, quo recubans modulabatur, et flagellum ejus, quo pueris minabatur, cum antiphono autentico veneratione congrua reservantur. In canone apposuit: diesque nostros in tua pace disponas atque ab aeterna damnatione nos eripi et in electorum tuorum jubeas grege numerari. Tandem beatus Gregorius cum sedisset annis tredecim, mensibus sex et diebus decem plenus operibus bonis migravit a corpore. In cujus tumba hi versus scripti sunt :
Suscipe terra tuo corpus de corpore sumtum, Reddere quod valeas vivificante Deo.
Spiritus astra petit, leti nil vira nocebunt , Alii male: jura.
Cui vitae alterius mors magis ipsa via est.
Pontificis summi hoc clauduntur membra sepulchro, Qui innumeris semper vixit ubique bonis. Flaxerunt autem anni ab incarnatione domini DCVI sub Phoca imperatore.
Post mortem beati Gregorii regionem totam maxima fames invasit, unde pauperes, quos liberaliter Gregorius pascere solebat, ad successorem suum venientes dicebant: domine, quos pater noster Gregorius solebat pascere, tua sanctitas fame non sinat perire. Quibus verbis papa indignatus semper taliter respondebat: si Gregorius ad famam suae laudis cunctos populos curavit suscipere, nos autem non possumus pascere; et sic eos semper vacuos remittebat. Unde sanctus Gregorius ter ei apparuit et tunc blande de sua tenacia et detractione redarguit, sed ille se de nullo emendare curavit. Unde illi quarto terribiliter apparens illum corripuit et in capite letaliter percussit, cujus dolore vexatus in brevi vitam finivit Dum autem adhuc praedicta fames instaret, quidam invidi Gregorio coeperunt detrahere, asserentes, quod totum thesaurum ecclesiae tanquam vir prodigus consumsisset. Unde ob hujus vindictam ad comburendos libros suos caeterorum animos inelinaverunt. Quorum dam quosdam jam combussissent et caeteros comburere vellent, Petrus dyaconus ejus familiarissimus, cum quo quatuor libros dyalogorum disputaverat, traditur vehementissime restitisse, asserens hoc ad ejus delendam memoriam nil valere. cum in diversis mundi partibus exemplaria tenerentur, adjungens immane sacrilegium esse, tanti patris tot et tales libros exurere, super cujus caput ipse spiritum sanctum in similitudine columbae frequentissime prospexisset. Tandem eos in hanc sententiam adduxit, ut, si illud, quod dixerat, jurejurando confirmans mori conlinuo meruisset, ipsi a librorum exustione desisterent, si vero mori non debuisset, sed superstes sui testimonii exstitisset, ipse quoque combustoribus manus daret.
Fertur enim Gregorius sibi dixisse, quod, si miraculum de visione columbae publicaret, post hoc vivere non valeret. Itaque cum apparatu dyaconi evangeliorum librum bajulans venerabilis levita Petrus adveniens mox ut tactis sacrosanctis evangeliis Gregorii sanctitati testimonium perhibuit et a dolore mortis extraneus spiritum inter verba verae confessionis efflavit.
A7. Quidam monachus monasterii sancti Gregorii quoddam penes se peculium congregavit, beatus autem Gregorius alteri monacho apparens dixit, ut sibi denunciaret, quod peculium dispergeret et poenitentiam ageret, quia die tertia esset moriturus. Quod ille audiens vehementer expavit, poenitentiam egit et peculium reddidit moxque febribus adeo correptus est, ut a diluculo diei tertiae usque ad horam tertiam prae nimio incendio linguam ab ore projiciens ultimum flatum emittere. videretur. Sed cum circumstantes monachi coram ipso psallerent, psalmodiam tandem interrumpentes ei detrahere coeperunt, ille autem continuo reviviscens et oculos subridendo concntiens ait: parcat vobis dominus, fratres, quare mihi detrahere voluistis, nam impedimentum mihi non modicum generastis, quia tam a vobis, quam a dyabolo sub uno tempore accusatus nesciebam, cui calumniae primitus responderem, sed si quando quemlibet migrantem. videritis, eidem non detractionem, sed compassionem impendatis, utpote qui ad tam districti judicis cum criminatore suo judicium vadit. Nam ad judicium cum dyabolo steti et adjuvante sancto Gregorio cunctis suis objectionibus bene respondi, tantum de una objectione convictus erubui, pro qua, ut vidistis, taliter sum vexatus et adhuc me non potui liberare. Cumque de ea fratres requirerent, ait: non audeo dicere, quia, cum ad vos a beato Gregorio jussus sum venire, dyabolus de hoc plurimum est conquestus, putans quod me ad poenitentiam agendam pro causa illa Deus remitteret, quapropter beatum Gregorium vadem dedi, ne commotam calumniam cuilibet revelarem.
Moxque clamans dixit: o Andrea, Andrea hoc anno pereas, qui me pravo consilio ad hoc periculum compulisti, Et statim revolutis terribiliter oculis exspiravit. Erat autem in urbe quidam nomine Andreas, qui eodem momento, quo ei monachus moriens periculum fuerat imprecatus, in tam gravem morbum decidit, ut defluentibus carnibus consumi posset, mori autem non posset. Tunc monachis monasterii sancti Gregorii convocatis confessus est, quod cum praedicto monacho quasdam monasterii cartulas rapuisset ac susceptis pretiis extraneis tradidisset, moxque is qui dudum mori non poterat, inter verba suae confessionis spiritum exhalavit.
A8. Eo tempore, ut in vita sancti Eugenii legitur, dum adhuc Ambrosianum officium magis quam Gregorianum ab ecclesiis servaretur, Romanus pontifex nomine Adrianus congilium convocavit, ubi statutum est, ut Gregorianum officium deberet universaliter observari. Cujus rei Carolus imperator exsecutor exsistens per diversas discurrens provincias minis et suppliciis omnes clericos ad hoc ipsum cogebat et libros Ambrosiani officii ubique comburebat multosque clericos rebelles incarcerabat. Proficiscens autem beatus Eugenius episcopus ad concilium invenit ipsum concilium per triduum jam solutum suaque prudentia dominum papam sic induxit, quod omnes praelatos, qui concilio interfuerant et jam per tres diaetas decesserant, revocavit. Concilio igitur convocato omnium patrum haec sententia una fuit, ut missale Ambrosianum et Gregorianum super altare beati Petri apostoli ponerentur et fores ecclesiae optime clauderentur ac plurimorum episcoporum sigillis diligentissime munirentur et ipsi tota nocte orationi insisterent, ut dominus per signum aliquod revelaret, quod horum ab ecclesiis magis servari vellet. Sicque per omnia, ut ordinaverant, facientes mane januas ecclesiae aperuerunt et utrumque missale super altare apertum invenerunt. Vel ut alii asserunt, missale Gregorianum penitus dissolutum et huc illucque dispersum invenerunt, Ambrosianum autem solummodo apertum super altare eodem loco, quo posuerant, repererunt; quo signo divinitus sunt edocti, ut Gregorianum officium deberet per totum mundum dispergi, Ambrosianum autem tantum in sua ecclesia observari, sicque sancti patres, ut divinitus edogti fuerant, statuerunt et sic usque hodie observatur.
Narrat Johannes dyaconus, qui vitam beati Gregorii compilavit, quod, dum vitam ejus conscriberet et compilaret, quidam vir sacerdotaliter insignitus ci dormienti et ad laternam, ut sibi videbatur, scribenti adstitit, cui desuper candidissima et adeo tenuissima vestis erat, ut ejus raritate nigredo subterloris tunicae appareret. Hic propius accessit et inflatis buccis risum continere non potuit. Cumque Johannes eum interrogaret, eur vir gravioris officii sic dissolute rideret, ait: quia tu scribis de mortuis, quos viventes nunquam vidisti. Cui Johannes: etsi illum non noverim facie, tamen de illo scribo, quae didici lectione. At ille: tu, inquit, ut video, sicut voluisti, fecisti et ego, quae facere potero, non cessabo ; moxque illi lumen lucernae exstinxit et adeo ipsum perterruit, ut vehementer exclamans putaret, se ab illo gladio jugulatum. Moxque Gregorius affuit comitante secum dextrorsum beato Nicolao, sinistrorsum vero Petro dyacono eique dixit: modicae fidei, quare dubitasti? Cumque post cortinam lecti adversarius latitaret, Gregorius ex manu Petri dyaconi magnam facem, quam tenere videbatur, arripiens ejusque flammis os faciemque ipsius adversarii exurens ad instar Aethiopis denigravit. Quaedam autem scintilla parvissima cadens in ejus vestem candidam ipsam dicto citius conflagravit et sic nigerrimus totus apparuit dixitque beato Petrus Gregorio: satis denigravimus eum; cui Gregorius: nos ilfum mon denigravimus, sed nigrum fuisse demonstravimus, sicque ibidem multo relicto lumine abierunt.
Notes
The Golden Legend (Legenda Aurea) companion
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