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XXIX. How the same Pope sent to Augustine the Pall and a letter, along with several ministers of the Word. [601 A.D.]
CHAP. XXVIII. How Pope Gregory wrote to the bishop of Aries to help Augustine in
the work of God. [601 A.D.]
Thus far the answers of the holy Pope Gregory, to the questions of the most
reverend prelate, Augustine. Now the letter, which he says he had written to the
bishop of Aries, was directed to Vergilius, successor to Aetherius, and was in
the following words:
"To his most reverend and holy brother and fellow bishop, Vergilius; Gregory,
servant of the servants of God. With how much kindness brethren, coming of their
own accord, are to be entertained, is shown by this, that they are for the most
part invited for the sake of brotherly love. Therefore, if our common brother,
Bishop Augustine, shall happen to come to you, let your love, as is becoming,
receive him with so great kindness and affection, that it may refresh him by the
benefit of its consolation and show to others how brotherly charity is to be
cultivated. And, since it often happens that those who are at a distance first
learn from others the things that need correction, if he bring before you, my
brother, any sins of bishops or others, do you, in conjunction with him,
carefully inquire into the same, and show yourself so strict and earnest with
regard to those things which offend God and provoke His wrath, that for the
amendment of others, the punishment may fall upon the guilty, and the innocent
may not suffer under false report. God keep you in safety, most reverend
brother. Given the 22nd day of June, in the nineteenth year of the reign of our
most religious lord, Mauritius Tiberius Augustus, the eighteenth year after the
consulship of our said lord, and the fourth indiction."
CHAP. XXIX. How the same Pope sent to Augustine the Pall and a letter, along
with several ministers of the Word. [601 A.D.]
Moreover, the same Pope Gregory, hearing from Bishop Augustine, that the harvest
which he had was great and the labourers but few, sent to him, together with his
aforesaid envoys, certain fellow labourers and ministers of the Word, of whom
the chief and foremost were Mellitus, Justus, Paulinus, and Rufinianus, and by
them all things in general that were necessary for the worship and service of
the Church, to wit, sacred vessels and altar-cloths, also church-furniture, and
vestments for the bishops and clerks, as likewise relics of the holy Apostles
and martyrs; besides many manuscripts. He also sent a letter, wherein he
signified that he had despatched the pall to him, and at the same time directed
how he should constitute bishops in Britain. The letter was in these words:
"To his most reverend and holy brother and fellow bishop, Augustine, Gregory,
the servant of the servants of God. Though it be certain, that the unspeakable
rewards of the eternal kingdom are reserved for those who labour for Almighty
God, yet it is requisite that we bestow on them the benefit of honours, to the
end that they may by this recompense be encouraged the more vigorously to apply
themselves to the care of their spiritual work. And, seeing that the new Church
of the English is, through the bounty of the Lord, and your labours, brought to
the grace of God, we grant you the use of the pall in the same, only for the
celebration of the solemn service of the Mass; that so you may ordain twelve
bishops in different places, who shall be subject to your jurisdiction. But the
bishop of London shall, for the future, be always consecrated by his own synod,
and receive the pall, which is the token of his office, from this holy and
Apostolic see, which I, by the grace of God, now serve. But we would have you
send to the city of York such a bishop as you shall think fit to ordain; yet so,
that if that city, with the places adjoining, shall receive the Word of God,
that bishop shall also ordain twelve bishops, and enjoy the honour of a
metropolitan; for we design, if we live, by the help of God, to bestow on him
also the pall; and yet we would have him to be subject to your authority, my
brother; but after your decease, he shall so preside over the bishops he shall
have ordained, as to be in no way subject to the jurisdiction of the bishop of
London. But for the future let there be this distinction as regards honour
between the bishops of the cities of London and York, that he who has been first
ordained have the precedence. But let them take counsel and act in concert and
with one mind dispose whatsoever is to be done for zeal of Christ; let them
judge rightly, and carry out their judgement without dissension.
"But to you, my brother, shall, by the authority of our God and Lord Jesus
Christ, be subject not only those bishops whom you shall ordain, and those that
shall be ordained by the bishop of York, but also all the prelates in Britain;
to the end that from the words and manner of life of your Holiness they may
learn the rule of a right belief and a good life, and fulfilling their office in
faith and righteousness, they may, when it shall please the Lord, attain to the
kingdom of Heaven. God preserve you in safety, most reverend brother.
"Given the 22nd of June, in the nineteenth year of the reign of our most
religious lord, Mauritius Tiberius Augustus, the eighteenth year after the
consulship of our said lord, and the fourth indiction."
