E06421: A letter of Pope Gregory the Great (Register 11.26) of 601, to Rusticiana, noblewoman resident in Constantinople, thanks her for a gift of hangings (vela) for the basilica of *Peter (the apostle, S00036) and of alms (elemosina) for the monastery of *Andrew (the Apostle, S00288) on the clivus Scauri in Rome; also recounts some miracles occurring at the monastery. Written in Latin in Rome.
Creators: name: Frances
Publisher: name: University of Oxford
Year: 2018
Subjects: History

description: Pope Gregory the Great, Register of Letters 11.26<br><br><br>Extract from a letter thanking Rusticiana for her concern and her gifts:<br><br>Ea autem quae ex purissimo et sincerissimo corde beato Petro apostolorum principi munera transmisistis praesente omni clero suscepta atque illic suspensa sunt. Filius enim meus uir magnificus domnus Symmachus, quia ex podagrae dolore aegrotum me et paene desperatum repperit, scripta uestra mihi dare distulit et post multum temporis, quam uela suscepta sunt, dedit. Postmodum uero in scriptis excellentiae uestrae inuenimus, ut cum letania ad beati Petri ecclesiam portari debuissent. Quod ideo minime factum est, quia, sicut praedixi, ante uela quam scripta suscepimus. Tamen praedictus uir cum omni familia domus uestrae hoc fecit, quod nos facere cum clero uoluistis. Sed etsi uoces defuerunt hominum, habet ipsa uestra oblatio apud omnipotentem dominum uocem suam.<br><br><br>‘But those presents that you sent over from your most pure and sincere heart to Saint Peter, prince of the apostles, were received in the presence of all the clergy and were duly hung up there. My son the magnificent gentleman, Lord Symmachus, found me sick with painful gout and almost in despair, so he put off giving me your letters and handed them to me a long time after the hangings had been received. But afterwards we found in your Excellency’s letters that they should been carried to the church of Saint Peter with a litany. And as I have just said, this was not done at all because we received the hangings before the letters. But the aforesaid lord carried out with all the servants of your household, what you wanted us to do with the clergy. And although people’s voices were missing, that offering of yours has its own voice before our almighty Lord.’<br><br><br>Gregory continues, thanking Rusticiana for the alms (elemosina) she sent to his own monastery of Andrew, and tells her of a series of miraculous punishments that occurred to errant monks of the same monastery. <br><br>One time, a monk stole some money when out shopping for the brethren; on his return, he was repeatedly tormented by a demon until he confessed his crime. On another, on the saint's feast day (die natalicio), a monk was struck blind. He was taken before the altar of Andrew, where, having ‘returned to himself’ (ad se reuersus), he confessed that he had planned to leave the monastery. On a third occasion, another monk planned to flee, but was seized by a demon every time he attempted to enter the oratory (oratorium); he was cured after confessing and after the brothers had prayed for him for three days.<br><br>Dicebat autem eundem se beatum apostolum, dum vexaretur, uidisse seque ab eo increpatum esse, cur uoluisset abscedere.<br><br>'He used to say that he had seen that blessed apostle while he was being tormented, and had been rebuked by him for wanting to depart from the monastery.'<br><br>The fourth and final miracles also relates to monks seeking to flees St Andrew's. Two of them secretly left, but were found hiding outside the Flaminian gate, thanks to miraculous help offered the search party which had been sent after them.<br><br><br>Text: Norberg 1982, vol. 2, 898-901. Translation: Martyn 2004, vol. 3, 760-3, lightly modified.