The Presbyters Project

IV 58.1

1. Gregorius. Ne nobis in dubium ueniant uerba mortuorum, confirmant haec facta uiuentium. Nam uir uitae uenerabilis Cassius, Narniensis episcopus, qui cotidianum Deo sacrificium offerre consueuerat seque in lacrimis inter ipsa sacrificiorum arcana mactabat, mandatum Domini per cuiusdam sui uisionem presbiteri suscepit, dicens: "Age quod agis, operare quod operaris. Non cesset pes tuus, non cesset manus tua. Natale apostolorum uenies ad me, et retribuo tibi mercedem tuam".

(ed. de Vogüé 1980: 194)

IV 58.1

1. Gregory. What happens to the living confirms that we should not doubt in the words of the dead [see 294]. For the man of venerable life, Cassius, bishop of Narni, used to offer a daily sacrifice to God, and he offered himself in tears in these mysteries of sacrifice. He received a command from God by the vision of one of his presbyters, saying: "Act as you are acting, do what you are doing. Let not your foot hold back, let not your hand hold back. On the feast of the Apostles [natale apostolorum, i.e. Peter and Paul] you will come to me and I will reward you with your treasure".

(trans. by J. Szafranowski)

Discussion:

The same history is presented by Gregory in his Homilies on the Gospels (37.9).

From his epitaph (CIL, X.2, no. 4164), it is known that Cassius was a bishop from 537 to 558.

Place of event:

Region

Italy north of Rome with Corsica and Sardinia

City

Narni

About the source:

Author: Gregory the Great
Title: Dialogues, Dialogorum Gregorii Papae libri quatuor de miraculis Patrum Italicorum, Dialogi
Origin: Rome (Rome)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

Gregory the Great wrote his Dialogues between 593 and 594 in Rome when he was the Bishop of this city. They were written in order to present lives and miracles of Italian saints, many of them contemporary to Gregory, and the greatest of them, saint Benedict of Nurcia. The Dialogues are divided into four books in which Gregory tells the stories of various saints to Peter, who was a deacon and a friend of Gregory, and is also known from the Gregory`s private correspondence.

Edition:

Grégoire le Grand, Dialogues, ed. A. de Vogüé, Sources Chretiennes 251, 260, 265, Paris 1978-1980.

Categories:

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος

Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior

Devotion - Supernatural experience

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: J. Szafranowski, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER298, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=298