Gregory to Fantinus, defensor of Naples. Fuscus, abbot of the monastery of Saint the Archangel which is called Macharis, and of Saints Maximus, Erasmus, and Juliana, has asserted that Constantius, a presbyter of his cell, on account of the state of the times migrated into Sicily, and carried off with him at the same time the codices and altar-cloths of his monastery. Since he reports that this man has died, and requests that those things which he recalls belonged to his cell be restored to him, let your experience take care to learn the truth; and if it is so, let all things which belong to that monastery be restored without any delay. For it is contrary to reason that what was taken from the monastery on account of the state of the times, as has been said, should be separated from its ownership.
So then let your experience act in such a way that, learning the truth, it may by no means permit the aforesaid abbot there, or whomever he has sent in his stead, to endure delay in vain.