Documente Academic
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by
P. MEYVAERT
(Cambridge, Mass.)
13
194 P. MEYVAERT (4)
23 Ep. IX.13 (M.G.H. Ep. II, p. 50), of October 598 : Vultis vero
ut quaedam vobis de Sampsoni factis allegorice disserantur : sed tanta
me corporis debilitas accedit, ut, si qua subire valuerint, exercere
animus non adsurgat &. Gregory is here saying that he is not equal to
the work of dictatio, namely to producing the written treatise which
Venantius had asked for.
24 See the opening words of the first Gospel homily in Book II
Multis vobis lectionibus ...per dictatum loqui consuevi; sed quia
lassescente stomacho ea quae dictavero legere ipse non possum, quos-
dam vestrum minus lib enter audientes intueor. Inde nunc a meme-
tipso exigere contra morem yolo ut inter sacra missarum solemnia
lectionem sancti evangelii non dictando, sed colloquendo edisseram &
(PL 76, col. 1169D). See also the beginning of the second homily in
Book II : Fractus longa molestia stomachus diu me charitati vestrae
de lectionis evangelicae expositione loqui prohibuit. Vox namque ipsa
a clamoris virtute succumbit, et quia a multis audiri non valeo, loqui,
fateor, inter multos erubesco &(col. 1174D). A further allusion to the
difficulties of preaching, in summer time, comes in homily 14 of Book
II ; Aestivum tempus quod corpori meo valde contrarium est loqui
me de expositione evangelii longa mora interveniente prohibuit &
(col. 1246B).
25 In his letter (Ep. IX.147) to Secundinus the solitary (inclusus),
of May 599, Gregory writes: Transmissi autem duos omeliarum co-
dices quas dixi in ecclesia dum adhuc loqui praevalerem &. -There
is a problem here as to whether Gregory is referring to his homilies
on the Gospels or to his homilies on Ezechiel, both of which were
contained in two Books. Since only the homilies of Book lIon the
Gospels were delivered coram populo &-the homilies of Book I
being dictations read by a notarius to the people -it would seem
more logical to interpret the statement in the letter to Secundinus as
referring to the homilies on Ezechiel, all of which were delivered
202 P. MEYVAERT (12)
coram populo &. This, in turn, raises the problem of the date of the
homilies on Ezechiel. In his prologue to this work Gregory states:
post annos octo petentibus fratribus notariorum schedas requirere
studui easque ...emendavi & (CCL 142, p. 3). The introduction to the
first homily of Book II speaks of Agilulf as about to lay siege to Rome.
Since this event is commonly dated to 593 A.D. it has been concluded
that Gregory's work of correction and the publication of the homilies
must have occurred in about 601-602 A.D. -this explains the position
of the prologue letter, Ep. XII.16a, in the M.G.H. edition of the
Registrum. But if this dating is correct the allusion in Ep. IX.147,
of May 599, to Secundinus, cannot be to the homilies on Ezechiel t
Without entering here into all the problems concerning the homilies
on Ezechiel I would only like to make two points: (1) the precise date
of Agilulf's march on Rome is not really certain -as the M.G.H.
editors are themselves prepared to concede (see especially vol. II,
the long note 1 on p. 319 : ...de tempore huius obsidionis dubitari
potest et utrum primae epistulae indictionis XII ante obsidionem an
post earn scriptae sunt &); (2) it should be noted that the allusion to
Agilulf comes at the beginning of Book II of the homilies on Ezechiel
(Book I has twelve homilies and Book II has ten). It is quite possible
that the homilies of Book I were delivered over a considerable period
of time -witness the allusions in the Gospel homilies cited above
in note 24. Thus the homilies on the early chapters of Ezechiel might
date from the years 591-592. This modifies our interpretation of Ep.
IX.147 to Secundinus -eight years prior to 599 brings us to 591-592.
-A more difficult problem is that of determining the kind of audience
to which the homilies on Ezechiel were delivered. Gregory's use of
coram populo & would seem to imply a lay audience. There is no
hint however that the discourses were given at a liturgical function like
the mass. Perhaps they were given in an open church to a predomi-
nantly monastic audience -outside of any liturgical celebration -
and with the understanding that any pious lay people, zealous about
the word of God, could attend. These homilies thus could be roughly
contemporary with the Gospel homilies of Gregory.
13) GREGORY THE GREAT'S COMMENTARIES 203
26 Ep. XI.56a (M.G.H. Ep. II, p. 333, lines 11-12) : Sed quia tua
fratemitas monasteril regulis erudita seorsum vivere non debet a
clericis suis ...& This is the Libellus Responsionum on whose transmis-
sion and authenticity I am preparing a separate monograph.
27 See, for example, Ep. 111.50(M.G.H. Ep. I, p. 206) : Fratres mei
qui mecum familiariter vivunt &; Ep. V.53a (ibid. p. 355) cum me
fratres ad alia pertrahunt &; Ep. IX.147 (ibid. Ep. II, p. 143) : Nos
enim qui vitam cum pluribus ducimus ...vos autem [Secundinus] qui
solitariam vitam ducitis &; Ep. IX.228 (ibid. p. 222): Hanc me,
fateor, quae per vos acta sunt saepe convenientibus filils meis dicere,
saepe cum eis pariter mirari delectat... &; Ep. XIII,44 (ibid. p. 406) :
quadam die dum inter me atque familiares meos ...sermo fuisset
exortus &.
28 In the acts of the Roman synod of 5 July, 595, over which Gre-
gory presided, we read: Verecundum mos torporem indiscretionis
involvit, ut huius sedis pontificibus ad secreta cubiculi servitia laici
pueri ac saeculares obsequantur et, cum pastoris vita esse discipulis
semper deb eat in exemplo, plerumque clerici, qualis in secreto sit vita
sui pontificis, nesciunt, quam tamen, ut dictum est, saeculares pueri
sciunt. De qua re praesenti decreto constituo, ut quidam ex clericis
vel etiam ex monachis 'electi ministerio cubiculi pontificalis obse-
quantur... &(Ep. V.57a, M.G.H. Ep. II, p. 363).
29 We catch a glimpse of the presence of these monks, for example,
in Ep. XI.15, of October 600 : dum ante hos annos ex laico ad religio-
sum migrassem officium, disposueram in cellulam super me solitarius
habitare ...Quadam autem die, dum inter alios ad obsequia domini
mei [i.e. Gregory] fuissem ingressus, subito atque inopinato, introire
in monasterio atque onera abbatis debuissem suscipere praecepistis
[the document is quoting Probus addressing Gregory], statimque sur-
gentes ...ad monasterium iam cum monachis ambulare coactus sum &
(M.G.H. Ep. II, p. 276). Since Gregory resided at the Lateran the
group of monks he lived closest to and presumably had most contact
with was that of the Lateran monastery. We knew from Gregory's
Dialogues (preface of Book II) that Valentinian, a disciple of St.
204 P. MEYVAERT (14)
P.
V.97
(17) GREGORY THE GREAT'S COMMENTARIES 207
14
210 P. MEYVAERT (20)
was still a deacon, M.G.H. Ep. II, p. 451). A leisurely dictatio, when
he was not under the pressure of satisfying a listening audience,
provided Gregory with the most satisfactory circumstances for de-
veloping his expositions.
46 The following references are to the lines in the CCL 144 edition
of the commentary: Ioquentes de corpore...) (1.42); quod ge-
neraliter de cuncta ecclesia diximus, nunc specialiter de unaquaeque
anima sentiamus ~ (1. 305); sicut prius diximus... ~ (1. 321) ; quia
...diximus, adhuc eundem sensum... subtilius exequamur ~ (1. 348) ;
dicamus huic ecclesiae ...~ (1. 416) ; vinum sicut et superius dixi-
mus... ~ (1. 566) ; diximus de synagoga, diximus de gentilitate, dica-
mus modo generaliter de tota ...ecclesia ~ (1. 729); haec quae dix-
imus de hereticis magistris possumus de catholicis non bene agenti-
bus dicere... ~ (1. 802); caute debet omnis auditor ...considerare ~
(1. 815). The last reference to auditor, rather than lector, is signifi-
cant.
(23) GREGORY THE GREAT~S COMMENTARIES 213
fore have come between 599 and 604, the year of Gregory's
own death 49.
By a careful look at both the external evidence for the
movements of Claudius and the internal evidence provided
by the commentaries themselves, it is thus possible to con-
clude that the text of the discourseson the Canticle was taken
down sub oculis during Claudius's long stay in Rome from
595 to 598, and not revised later. The surviving text of the
commentary on I Kings, however, represents a later piece of
work. Gregory's discourseson I Kings also took place during
Claudius's long stay in Rome, but they were given an inter-
mediate written form by Claudius, working either from the
notes of notaries or from memory, after he returned to Ra-
venna 5. Later, after 599, Claudius brought his dictatio to
Postscript