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E06365: A letter of Pope Gregory the Great (Register 6.19) of 595, to Dominicus, bishop of Carthage (North Africa), suggests that they pray for each other before the bodies, respectively, of *Peter (the Apostle, S00036) and *Cyprian (bishop and martyr of Carthage, S00411). Written in Latin in Rome.

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posted on 2018-09-11, 00:00 authored by frances
Pope Gregory the Great, Register of Letters 6.19


Extract from the letter, suggesting that they each pray for each other before their respective greatest saints:

Et me pro uobis apud sacratissimum beati Petri apostoli corpus et uos pro me apud sanctum Cyprianum martyrem orationibus decet incumbere.

‘It is fitting that I should devote myself to praying for you before the most sacred body of Saint Peter the apostle, and that you should do so for me before the holy martyr Cyprian.’


Text: Norberg 1982, vol. 1, 389. Translation: Martyn 2004, vol. 2, 416, lightly modified.

History

Evidence ID

E06365

Saint Name

Peter the Apostle : S00036 Cyprian, bishop and martyr of Carthage : S00411

Saint Name in Source

Petrus Cyprianus

Related Saint Records

Type of Evidence

Literary - Letters

Language

  • Latin

Evidence not before

595

Evidence not after

595

Activity not before

595

Activity not after

595

Place of Evidence - Region

Rome and region

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Rome

Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)

Rome Rome Rome Roma Ῥώμη Rhōmē

Major author/Major anonymous work

Gregory the Great (pope)

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Prayer/supplication/invocation

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Ecclesiastics - bishops

Cult Activities - Relics

Bodily relic - entire body

Source

A letter transmitted as part of Gregory the Great’s Register of Letters. This letter collection, organised into fourteen books, is large and contains letters to a variety of recipients, including prominent aristocrats, members of the clergy and royalty. The issues touched on in the letters are equally varied, ranging from theological considerations to mundane administrative matters. This collection of letters, which was possibly curated by Gregory, was originally much larger. The surviving Register comprises several groups of letters which were extracted at several later moments in history, the largest of which took place in the papacy of Hadrian I (772-795).

Bibliography

Edition: Norberg, D., S. Gregorii Magni, Registrum epistularum. 2 vols. (Corpus Christianorum Series Latina 140-140A; Turnhout: Brepols, 1982). English translation: Martyn, J.R.C., The Letters of Gregory the Great, 3 vols. (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 2004). Further Reading: Dal Santo, M., Debating the Saints' Cult in the Age of Gregory the Great (Oxford: OUP, 2012). McCulloch, J., "The Cult of Relics in the Letters and Dialogues of Gregory the Great," Traditio 32 (1976), 145-184. Neil, B., and Dal Santo, M. (eds.), A Companion to Gregory the Great (Leiden: Brill, 2013).

Usage metrics

    Evidence - The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

    Categories

    Keywords

    S00036S00411History

    Licence

    CC0

    Exports

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