Letter to Augustine, Bishop of England

In this letter to St. Gregory the Great (Dvoeslov) instructs St. Augustine, Bishop of England, regarding the mission to convert the English to Christianity. The letter contains important reflections on the nature of miracles, their purpose and the danger of spiritual pride for a church minister, and also calls for joy and humble thanksgiving for the conversion of the people to faith. St. Gregory congratulates St. Augustine with successes achieved through God's grace and miracles, but warns against pride and self-exaltation. He reminds us that the power to perform miracles is not given for personal glory, but for the salvation of souls and the spread of faith. The saint calls upon St. Augustine to humility, recalling the example of Moses, and emphasizes that the true sign of chosenness is love for one’s neighbors. About the purpose for which the Lord imparts to people the power to perform signs and wonders Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace and good will toward men, because the grain of wheat, so that no one might reign in heaven, fell to the ground and died. His death revived us; weakness strengthened; suffering freed one from passions; love for him makes us look for brothers in Britain whom we did not know before; and by His goodness we find those whom we were looking for. It is impossible to explain with what joy the hearts of all believers were filled here when they learned that the Angles, through the action of the grace of Almighty God, through your labors, having rejected the darkness of error, were enlightened by the light of St. faith, and now they already despise those idols before which they previously trembled; from lawless deeds they turn to the rules of St. faith, obey the Divine commandments and rise in concepts, and, so as not to crawl with their souls on the earth, they humble themselves in prayer to the ground. Whose work is all this if not the One who said: My Father is working hitherto, and I am working (John 5:17). In order to prove that the conversion of people does not depend on human wisdom, but on His strength, He first made illiterate people His preachers, and now He deigned among the Angles to do glorious deeds to the weak. However, imagining the miracles that Almighty God performed through you in His chosen people, you, dear brother, should both rejoice and fear at the same time: rejoice that the Angles through visible miracles are attracted to invisible grace, and fear that these signs do not puff up your weak spirit, and external glory does not serve as a reason for internal fall. In this case, it is appropriate to remember those words that the Lord said to his disciples when they returned from preaching and joyfully said that demons obeyed them in His name: do not rejoice in this, He said, rejoice, for your names are written in heaven (Luke 10:17-20), because, rejoicing in miracles, they paid attention only to temporary joy; but when the Lord commanded them to rejoice that their names were written in heaven, he thereby inspired them that they should pay attention to eternal joy, because disciples of truth should rejoice in the common good and endless joy. Therefore, dear brother, looking at the external deeds that you perform with the assistance of God, you must always imagine who you are, and how great the mercy of God is towards that people, for whose conversion you have been given the grace to work miracles; and for him, always remember your sins in word or deed, in order to destroy rebellious pride through this, and imagine that the power to create signs has been given to you for the salvation of those who have converted through your mediation. On this occasion, it is appropriate to remember what happened to the chosen servant of God Moses. It is known that during the exodus of God’s people from Egypt and after that, he performed many miracles. So he received the tablets of the law on Mount Sinai after a forty-day fast, being alone worthy of conversing with God amid thunder and lightning; divided the Red Sea; was guided by the pillar of cloud; He asked the people who were suffering from famine in the desert for manna from heaven, krasteli; To put it briefly, it is impossible to calculate how many miracles he performed in the desert over the course of 38 years. In doubtful cases he received instruction from God himself at the tabernacle; petitioned the angry Lord for mercy for the people; the opening earth devoured those who disobeyed him; he conquered nations; but when he reached the promised land, because he doubted the possibility of bringing water out of the stone, he was not allowed to enter the promised land. And if the Lord remembered for so long the guilt of his servant, through whom he performed many miracles in his time, then how should we fear God’s judgment? And if this servant, whom the Lord chose primarily, died for guilt outside the Promised Land, then what should we not fear, not yet knowing whether we are chosen? As for the fact that the outcasts sometimes perform miracles, I do not consider it necessary to talk about this, because you know from the Gospel what the Truth itself said about them. “Many,” she says, “said to me on that day: Lord, Lord, was it not in your name that we prophesied, and in your name we cast out demons, and in your name we created many mighty powers; and then we will confess to them that I know you no better (Matthew 7:22–23). Therefore, receiving the power to work wonders and signs, we must together humble the spirit in order to protect it from arrogance and pride; because signs are given so that we win souls through them and spread the glory of Him by whose power they are accomplished. We should rejoice at this sign alone, because from it we are confirmed of our election. This sign is love, as can be seen from the words of the Lord, who said: By this they understand that they are My disciples, if they have love among themselves (John 3:33). The prophet was also looking for this sign when he said: Do a sign for good with me, so that those who hate me will see and be put to shame (Ps. 85:17). I am talking about this in order to strengthen your spirit in humility. However, your humility must be filled with hope, because, despite my sins, I undoubtedly hope that by the grace of our Almighty Creator and Redeemer, God and the Lord Jesus Christ, your sins have already been forgiven, which is why you are chosen to forgive the sins of others, so that you will no longer be afraid of condemnation, as by the conversion of many you are trying to bring joy to heaven; for our Creator and Redeemer says that there is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, rather than over ninety righteous people (Luke 15:7); and if there is joy over one sinner who repents, then what joy should there be when a whole people turned from their error, who, having submitted to faith, repented of the evil deeds they had done before. With such a triumph of heaven and the Angels, we will repeat the words of the Angels with which I began this conversation: glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men (Book 11. Scripture 28.).