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XXVII. How St. Augustine, being made a bishop, sent to acquaint Pope Gregory with what had
CHAP. XXVII. How St. Augustine, being made a bishop, sent to acquaint Pope
Gregory with what had been done in Britain, and asked and received replies, of
which he stood in need. [597-601 A.D.]
IN the meantime, Augustine, the man of God, went to Aries, and, according to the
orders received from the holy Father Gregory, was ordained archbishop of the
English nation, (Note: Augustine was not consecrated as archbishop either of
London or Canterbury, but by the general title of "Archbishop of the English."
According to Gregory’s original scheme, London, not Canterbury, was to have been
the seat of the primacy of southern England. London and York being doubtless the
most important cities of south and north known to him from their history during
the Roman occupation. But Christianity was not permanently established in London
till it was too late to remove the see from Canterbury, which would obviously
commend itself to Augustine as the most suitable place to be the metropolitan
city) by Aetherius, archbishop of that city. Then returning into Britain, he
sent Laurentius the priest and Peter the monk to Rome, to acquaint Pope Gregory,
that the English nation had received the faith of Christ, and that he was
himself made their bishop. At the same time, he desired his solution of some
doubts which seemed urgent to him. He soon received fitting answers to his
questions, which we have also thought meet to insert in this our history:
The First Question of the blessed Augustine, Bishop of the Church of
Canterbury.—Concerning bishops, what should be their manner of conversation
towards their clergy? or into how many portions the offerings of the faithful at
the altar are to be divided? and how the bishop is to act in the Church?
Gregory, Pope of the City of Rome, answers.—Holy Scripture, in which we doubt
not you are well versed, testifies to this, and in particular the Epistles of
the Blessed Paul to Timothy, wherein he endeavours to show him what should be
his manner of conversation in the house of God; but it is the custom of the
Apostolic see to prescribe these rules to bishops when they are ordained: that
all emoluments which accrue, are to be divided into four portions ;—one for the
bishop and his household, for hospitality and entertainment of guests; another
for the clergy; a third for the poor; and the fourth for the repair of churches.
But in that you, my brother, having been instructed in monastic rules, must not
live apart from your clergy in the Church of the English, which has been lately,
by the will of God, converted to the faith, you must establish the manner of
conversation of our fathers in the primitive Church, among whom, none said that
aught of the things which they possessed was his own, but they had all things
common.
But if there are any clerks not received into holy orders, who cannot live
continent, they are to take wives, and receive their stipends outside of the
community; because we know that it is written concerning the same fathers of
whom we have spoken that a distribution was made unto every man according as he
had need. Care is also to be taken of their stipends, and provision to be made,
and they are to be kept under ecclesiastical rule, that they may live orderly,
and attend to singing of psalms, and, by the help of God, preserve their hearts
and tongues and bodies from all that is unlawful. But as for those that live in
common, there is no need to say anything of assigning portions, or dispensing
hospitality and showing mercy; inasmuch as all that they have over is to be
spent in pious and religious works, according to the teaching of Him who is the
Lord and Master of all, "Give alms of such things as ye have over, and behold
all things are clean unto you."
Augustine’s Second Question—Whereas the faith is one and the same, are there
different customs in different Churches? and is one custom of Masses observed in
the holy Roman Church, and another in the Church of Gaul?
Pope Gregory answers.—You know, my brother, the custom of the Roman Church in
which you remember that you were bred up. But my will is, that if you have found
anything, either in the Roman, or the Gallican, or any other Church, which may
be more acceptable to Almighty God, you should carefully make choice of the
same, and sedulously teach the Church of the English, which as yet is new in the
faith, whatsoever you can gather from the several Churches. For things are not
to be loved for the sake of places, but places for the sake of good things.
Choose, therefore, from every Church those things that are pious, religious, and
right, and when you have, as it were, made them up into one bundle, let the
minds of the English be accustomed thereto.
Augustine’s Third Question.—I beseech you, what punishment must be inflicted on
one who steals anything from a church?
Gregory answers.—You may judge, my brother, by the condition of the thief, in
what manner he is to be corrected. For there are some, who, having substance,
commit theft; and there are others, who transgress in this matter through want.
Wherefore it is requisite, that some be punished with fines, others with
stripes; some with more severity, and some more mildly. And when the severity is
greater, it is to proceed from charity, not from anger; because this is done for
the sake of him who is corrected, that he may not be delivered up to the fires
of Hell. For it behoves us to maintain discipline among the faithful, as good
parents do with their children according to the flesh, whom they punish with
stripes for their faults, and yet they design to make those whom they chastise
their heirs, and preserve their possessions for those whom they seem to visit in
wrath. This charity is, therefore, to be kept in mind, and it dictates the
measure of the punishment, so that the mind may do nothing beyond the rule
prescribed by reason. You will add to this, how men are to restore those things
which they have stolen from the church. But let not the Church take more than it
has lost of its worldly possessions, or seek gain from vanities.
Augustine’s Fourth Question. — Whether two full brothers may marry two sisters,
who are of a family far removed from them?
Gregory answers.—Most assuredly this may lawfully be done; for nothing is found
in Holy Writ on this matter that seems to contradict it.
Augustine’s Fifth Question.—To what degree may the faithful marry with their
kindred? and is it lawful to marry a stepmother or a brother’s wife?
Gregory answers.—A certain secular law in the Roman commonwealth allows, that
the son and daughter of a brother and sister, or of two full brothers, or two
sisters, may be joined in matrimony; but we have found, by experience, that the
offspring of such wedlock cannot grow up; and the Divine law forbids a man to
"uncover the nakedness of his kindred." Hence of necessity it must be the third
or fourth generation of the faithful, that can be lawfully joined in matrimony;
for the second, which we have mentioned, must altogether abstain from one
another. To marry with one’s stepmother is a heinous crime, because it is
written in the Law, "Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father:" now
the son, indeed, cannot uncover his father’s nakedness; but in regard that it is
written, "They twain shall be one flesh," he that presumes to uncover the
nakedness of his stepmother, who was one flesh with his father, certainly
uncovers the nakedness of his father. It is also prohibited to marry with a
sister-in-law, because by the former union she is become the brother’s flesh.
For which thing also John the Baptist was beheaded, and obtained the crown of
holy martyrdom. For, though he was not ordered to deny Christ, and it was not
for confessing Christ that he was killed, yet inasmuch as the same Jesus Christ,
our Lord, said, "I am the Truth," because John was killed for the truth, he also
shed his blood for Christ.
But forasmuch as there are many of the English, who, whilst they were still
heathens, are said to have been joined in this unholy union, when they attain to
the faith they are to be admonished to abstain, and be made to known that this
is a grievous sin. Let them fear the dread judgement of God, lest, for the
gratification of their carnal desires, they incur the torments of eternal
punishment. Yet they are not on this account to be deprived of the Communion of
the Body and Blood of Christ, lest they should seem to be punished for those
things which they did through ignorance before they had received Baptism. For in
these times the Holy Church chastises some things with zeal, and tolerates some
in mercy, and is blind to some in her wisdom, and so, by forbearance and
blindness often suppresses the evil that stands in her way. But all that come to
the faith are to be admonished not to presume to do such things. And if any
shall be guilty of them, they are to be excluded from the Communion of the Body
and Blood of Christ. For as the offence is, in some measure, to be tolerated in
those who did it through ignorance, so it is to be rigorously punished in those
who do not fear to sin knowingly.
Augustine’s Sixth Question.—Whether a bishop may be consecrated without other
bishops being present, if there be so great a distance between them, that they
cannot easily come together?
Gregory answers.—In the Church of England, of which you are as yet the only
bishop, you cannot otherwise ordain a bishop than in the absence of other
bishops. For when do bishops come over from Gaul, that they may be present as
witnesses to you in ordaining a bishop? But we would have you, my brother, to
ordain bishops in such a manner, that the said bishops may not be far asunder,
to the end that there be no lack, but that at the ordination of a bishop other
pastors also, whose pretence is of great benefit, should easily come together.
Thus, when, by the help of God, bishops shall have been ordained in places near
to one another, no ordination of a bishop is to take place without assembling
three or four bishops. For, even in spiritual affairs, we may take example by
the temporal, that they may be wisely and discreetly conducted. For surely, when
marriages are celebrated in the world, some married persons are assembled, that
those who went before in the way of matrimony, may also partake in the joy of
the new union. Why, then, at this spiritual ordinance, wherein, by means of the
sacred ministry, man is joined to God, should not such persons be assembled, as
may either rejoice in the advancement of the new bishop, or jointly pour forth
their prayers to Almighty God for his preservation?
Augustine’s Seventh Question.—How are we to deal with the bishops of Gaul and
Britain?
Gregory answers.—We give you no authority over the bishops of Gaul, because the
bishop of Aries received the pall in the old times of my predecessors, and we
must by no means deprive him of the authority he has received. If it shall
therefore happen, my brother, that you go over into the province of Gaul, you
are to concert with the said bishop of Aries, how, if there be any faults among
the bishops, they may be amended. And if he shall be lukewarm in keeping up
discipline, he is to be fired by your zeal; to whom we have also written, that
aided by the presence of your Holiness in Gaul, he should exert himself to the
utmost, and put away from the behaviour of the bishops all that is opposed to
the command of our Creator. But you shall not have power to go beyond your own
authority and judge the bishops of Gaul, but by persuading, and winning them,
and showing good works for them to imitate, you shall recall the perverted to
the pursuit of holiness; for it is written in the Law, "When thou comest into
the standing corn of thy neighbour, then thou mayest bruise the ears with thine
hand and eat; but thou shalt not move a sickle unto thy neighbours’ standing
corn." For thou mayest not apply the sickle of judgement in that harvest which
thou seest to have been committed to another; but by the influence of good works
thou shalt clear the Lord’s wheat of the chaff of its vices, and convert it by
exhortation and persuasion in the body of the Church, as it were, by eating. But
whatsoever is to be done by authority, must be transacted with the aforesaid
bishop of Aries, lest that should be omitted, which the ancient institution of
the fathers has appointed. But as for all the bishops of Britain, we commit them
to your care, that the unlearned may be taught, the weak strengthened by
persuasion, and the perverse corrected by authority.
Augustine’s Eighth Question.—Whether a woman with child ought to be baptized? Or
when she has brought forth, after what time she may come into the church? As
also, after how many days the infant born may be baptized, lest he be prevented
by death? Or how long after her husband may have carnal knowledge of her? Or
whether it is lawful for her to come into the church when she has her courses,
or to receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion? Or whether a man, under certain
circumstances, may come into the church before he has washed with water? Or
approach to receive the Mystery of the Holy Communion? All which things are
requisite to be known by the ignorant nation of the English.
Gregory answers.—I do not doubt but that these questions have been put to you,
my brother, and I think I have already answered you therein. But I believe you
would wish the opinion which you yourself might give and hold to be confirmed by
my reply also. Why should not a woman with child be baptized, since the
fruitfulness of the flesh is no offence in the eyes of Almighty God? For when
our first parents sinned in Paradise, they forfeited the immortality which they
had received, by the just judgement of God. Because, therefore, Almighty God
would not for their fault wholly destroy the human race, he both deprived man of
immortality for his sin, and, at the same time, of his great goodness and
loving-kindness, reserved to him the power of propagating his race after him. On
what ground, then, can that which is preserved to human nature by the free gift
of Almighty God, be excluded from the privilege of Holy Baptism? For it is very
foolish to imagine that the gift can be opposed to grace in that Mystery in
which all sin is blotted out. When a woman is delivered, after how many days she
may come into the church, you have learnt from the teaching of the Old
Testament, to wit, that she is to abstain for a male child thirty-three days,
and sixty-six for a female. Now you must know that this is to be received in a
mystery; for if she enters the church the very hour that she is delivered, to
return thanks, she is not guilty of any sin; because the pleasure of the flesh
is a fault, and not the pain; but the pleasure is in the copulation of the
flesh, whereas there is pain in bringing forth the child. Wherefore it is said
to the first mother of all, "In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children." If,
therefore, we forbid a woman that has brought forth, to enter the church, we
make a crime of her very punishment. To baptize either a woman who has brought
forth, if there be danger of death, even the very hour that she brings forth, or
that which she has brought forth the very hour it is born, is in no way
prohibited, because, as the grace of the Holy Mystery is to be with much
discretion provided for those who are in full life and capable of understanding,
so is it to be without any delay administered to the dying; lest, while a
further time is sought to confer the Mystery of redemption, if a small delay
intervene, the person that is to be redeemed be dead and gone. Her husband is
not to approach her, till the infant born be weaned. An evil custom is sprung up
in the lives of married people, in that women disdain to suckle the children
whom they bring forth, and give them to other women to suckle; which seems to
have been invented on no other account but incontinency; because, as they will
not be continent, they will not suckle the children whom they bear. Those women,
therefore, who, from evil custom, give their children to others to bring up,
must not approach their husbands till the time of purification is past. For even
when there has been no child-birth, women are forbidden to do so, whilst they
have their courses, insomuch that the Law condemns to death any man that shall
approach unto a woman during her uncleanness. Yet the woman, nevertheless, must
not be forbidden to come into the church whilst she has her courses; because the
superfluity of nature cannot be imputed to her as a crime; and it is not just
that she should be refused admittance into the church, for that which she
suffers against her will. For we know, that the woman who had the issue of
blood, humbly approaching behind our Lord’s back, touched the hem of his
garment, and her infirmity immediately departed from her. If, therefore, she
that had an issue of blood might commendably touch the garment of our Lord, why
may not she, who has her courses, lawfully enter into the church of God? But you
may say, Her infirmity compelled her, whereas these we speak of are bound by
custom. Consider, then, most dear brother, that all we suffer in this mortal
flesh, through the infirmity of our nature, is ordained by the just judgement of
God after the fall; for to hunger, to thirst, to be hot, to be cold, to be
weary, is from the infirmity of our nature; and what else is it to seek food
against hunger, drink against thirst, air against heat, clothes against cold,
rest against weariness, than to procure a remedy against distempers? Thus to a
woman her courses are a distemper. If, therefore, it was a commendable boldness
in her, who in her disease touched our Lord’s garment, why may not that which is
allowed to one infirm person, be granted to all women, who, through the fault of
their nature, are rendered infirm?
She must not, therefore, be forbidden to receive the Mystery of the Holy
Communion during those days. But if any one out of profound respect does not
presume to do it, she is to be commended; yet if she receives it, she is not to
be judged. For it is the part of noble minds in some manner to acknowledge their
faults, even when there is no fault; because very often that is done without a
fault, which, nevertheless, proceeded from a fault. Thus, when we are hungry, it
is no sin to eat; yet our being hungry proceeds from the sin of the first man.
The courses are no sin in women, because they happen naturally; yet, because our
nature itself is so depraved, that it appears to be defiled even without the
concurrence of the will, a defect arises from sin, and thereby human nature may
itself know what it is become by judgement. And let man, who wilfully committed
the offence, bear the guilt of that offence against his will. And, therefore,
let women consider with themselves, and if they do not presume, during their
courses, to approach the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of our Lord, they are
to be commended for their praiseworthy consideration; but when they are carried
away with love of the same Mystery to receive it according to the custom of the
religious life, they are not to be restrained, as we said before. For as in the
Old Testament the outward works are observed, so in the New Testament, that
which is outwardly done, is not so diligently regarded as that which is inwardly
thought, that the punishment may be with discernment. For whereas the Law
forbids the eating of many things as unclean, yet our Lord says in the Gospel,
"Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out
of the mouth, this defileth a man." And afterwards he added, expounding the
same, "Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts." Where it is abundantly shown,
that that is declared by Almighty God to be polluted in deed, which springs from
the root of a polluted thought. Whence also Paul the Apostle says, "Unto the
pure all things are pure, but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving,
nothing is pure." And presently, declaring the cause of that defilement, he
adds, "For even their mind and conscience is defiled." If, therefore, meat is
not unclean to him whose mind is not unclean, why shall that which a woman
suffers according to nature, with a clean mind, be imputed to her as
uncleanness?
A man who has approached his own wife is not to enter the church unless washed
with water, nor is he to enter immediately although washed. The Law prescribed
to the ancient people, that a man in such cases should be washed with water, and
not enter into the church before the setting of the sun. Which, nevertheless,
may be understood spiritually, because a man acts so when the mind is led by the
imagination to unlawful concupiscence; for unless the fire of concupiscence be
first driven from his mind, he is not to think himself worthy of the
congregation of the brethren, while he sees himself burdened by the iniquity of
a perverted will. For though divers nations have divers opinions concerning this
affair, and seem to observe different rules, it was always the custom. of the
Romans, from ancient times, for such an one to seek to be cleansed by washing,
and for some time reverently to forbear entering the church. Nor do we, in so
saying, assign matrimony to be a fault; but forasmuch as lawful intercourse
cannot be had without the pleasure of the flesh, it is proper to forbear
entering the holy place, because the pleasure itself cannot be without a fault.
For he was not born of adultery or fornication, but of lawful marriage, who
said, "Behold I was conceived in iniquity, and in sin my mother brought me
forth." For he who knew himself to have been conceived in iniquity, lamented
that he was born from sin, because he bears the defect, as a tree bears in its
bough the sap it drew from the root. In which words, however, he does not call
the union of the married couple iniquity, but the will itself. For there are
many things which are lawful and permitted, and yet we are somewhat defiled in
doing them. As very often by being angry we correct faults, and at the same time
disturb our own peace of mind; and though that which we do is right, yet it is
not to be approved that our mind should be disturbed. For he who said, "My eye
was disturbed with anger," had been angry at the vices of sinners. Now, seeing
that only a calm mind can rest in the light of contemplation, he grieved that
his eye was disturbed with anger; because, whilst he was correcting evil actions
below, he was obliged to be confused and disturbed with regard to the
contemplation of the highest things. Anger against vice is, therefore,
commendable, and yet painful to a man, because he thinks that by his mind being
agitated, he hag incurred some guilt. Lawful commerce, therefore, must be for
the sake of children, not of pleasure; and must be to procure offspring, not to
satisfy vices. But if any man is led not by the desire of pleasure, but only for
the sake of getting children, such a man is certainly to be left to his own
judgement, either as to entering the church, or as to receiving the Mystery of
the Body and Blood of our Lord, which he, who being placed in the fire cannot
burn, is not to be forbidden by us to receive. But when, not the love of getting
children, but of pleasure prevails, the pair have cause to lament their deed.
For this the holy preaching concedes to them, and yet fills the mind with dread
of the very concession. For when Paul the Apostle said, "Let him that cannot
contain have his own wife;" he presently took care to subjoin, "But this I say
by way of permission, not of commandment." For that is not granted by way of
permission which is lawful, because it is just; land, therefore, that which he
said he permitted, he showed to be an offence.
It is seriously to be considered, that when God was about to speak to the people
on Mount Sinai, He first commanded them to abstain from women. And if purity of
body was there so carefully required, where God spoke to the people by the means
of a creature as His representative, that those who were to hear the words of
God should abstain; how much more ought women, who receive the Body of Almighty
God, to preserve themselves in purity of flesh, lest they be burdened with the
very greatness of that inestimable Mystery? For this reason also, it was said to
David, concerning his men, by the priest, that if they were clean in this
particular, they should receive the shewbread, which they would not have
received at all, had not David first declared them to be clean. Then the man,
who, afterwards, has been washed with water, is also capable of receiving the
Mystery of the Holy Communion, when it is lawful for him, according to what has
been before declared, to enter the church.
Augustine’s Ninth Question—Whether after an illusion, such as is wont to happen
in a dream, any man may receive the Body of our Lord, or if he be a priest,
celebrate the Divine Mysteries?
Gregory answers.—The Testament of the Old Law, as has been said already in the
article above, calls such a man polluted, and allows him not to enter into the
church till the evening, after being washed with water. Which, nevertheless, a
spiritual people, taking in another sense, will understand in the same manner as
above; because he is imposed upon as it were in a dream, who, being tempted with
uncleanness, is defiled by real representations in thought, and he is to be
washed with water, that he may cleanse away the sins of thought with tears; and
unless the fire of temptation depart before, may know himself to be in a manner
guilty until the evening. But a distinction is very necessary in that illusion,
and one must carefully consider what causes it to arise ‘in the mind of the
person sleeping; for sometimes it proceeds from excess of eating or drinking;
sometimes from the superfluity or infirmity of nature, and sometimes from the
thoughts. And when it happens either through superfluity or infirmity of nature,
such an illusion is not to be feared at all, because it is to be lamented, that
the mind of the person, who knew nothing of it, suffers the same, rather than
that he occasioned it. But when the appetite of gluttony commits excess in food,
and thereupon the receptacles of the humours are oppressed, the mind thence
contracts some guilt; yet not so much as to hinder the receiving of the Holy
Mystery, or celebrating Mass, when a holy day requires it, or necessity obliges
the Mystery to be shown forth, because there is no other priest in the place;
for if there be others who can perform the ministry, the illusion proceeding
from over-eating ought not to exclude a man from receiving the sacred Mystery;
but I am of opinion he ought humbly to abstain from offering the sacrifice of
the Mystery, but not from receiving it, unless the mind of the person sleeping
has been disturbed with some foul imagination. For there are some, who for the
most part so suffer the illusion, that their mind, even during the sleep of the
body, is not defiled with filthy thoughts. In which case, one thing is evident,
that the mind is guilty, not being acquitted even in its own judgement; for
though it does not remember to have seen anything whilst the body was sleeping,
yet it calls to mind that, when the body was awake, it fell into gluttony. But
if the illusion of the sleeper proceeds from evil thoughts when he was awake,
then its guilt is manifest to the mind; for the man perceives from what root
that defilement sprang, because what he had consciously thought of, that he
afterwards unconsciously endured. But it is to be considered, whether that
thought was no more than a suggestion, or proceeded to delight, or, what is
worse, consented to sin. For all sin is committed in three ways, viz., by
suggestion, by delight, and by consent. Suggestion comes from the Devil, delight
from the flesh, and consent from the spirit. For the serpent suggested the first
offence, and Eve, as flesh, took delight in it, but Adam, as the spirit,
consented. And when the mind sits in judgement on itself, it must clearly
distinguish between suggestion and delight, and between delight and consent. For
when the evil spirit suggests a sin to the mind, if there ensue no delight in
the sin, the sin is in no way committed; but when the flesh begins to take
delight in it, then sin begins to arise. But if it deliberately consents, then
the sin is known to be full-grown. The seed, therefore, of sin is in the
suggestion, the nourishment of it in delight, its maturity in the consent. And
it often happens that what the evil spirit sows in the thought, in that the
flesh begins to find delight, and yet the soul does not consent to that delight.
And whereas the flesh cannot be delighted without the mind, yet the mind
struggling against the pleasures of the flesh, is after a manner unwillingly
bound by the carnal delight, so that through reason it opposes it, and does not
consent, yet being bound by delight, it grievously laments being so bound.
Wherefore that great soldier of our Lord’s host, groaned and said, "I see
another law in my members warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me
into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members." Now if he was a
captive, he did not fight; but he did fight; wherefore he was a captive and at
the same time therefore fought against the law of the mind, which the law that
is in the members opposed; but if he fought, he was no captive. Thus, then, man
is, as I may say, a captive and yet free. Free on account of justice, which he
loves, a captive by the delight which he unwillingly bears within him.
