Gregory the Great

But whereas he says, not, 'sparing,' but, as if sparing you; I think that this point ought not to be passed by carelessly, in that Holy Church, while keeping vigorousness of discipline together with an union of gentleness, sometimes even while 'as if sparing,' is far from sparing the wicked, but sometimes, when 'as if not sparing' does spare them; which we shall exhibit the more effectually, if we bring forward the very things themselves which are not unfrequently happening. So then let us place before the eyes of the imagination, two bad men set within the pale of Holy Church, of whom let the one be powerful and insolent, and the other mild and under government. If a fault has stolen upon the one that is gentle and under government, the preacher directly, by rebuking the thing follows hard upon him, and corrects him; and by correcting frees him from guilt, and resets him again in the way of righteousness. What did he then to this man, but spare in sparing not? in that, forasmuch as he did not hold back the word of correction, he the more speedily set him free from sin. For in freely charging him home, he did not spare him; but in this respect, that he rebuked him, he did spare him. But on the other hand, the powerful and insolent man, when he is discovered to have been guilty of any thing, there is an opportunity sought, in order that he may be rebuked for the evil he has committed. For except the preacher wait till such time as he may be able to bear correction in a proper way, he increases in him the evil that he is prosecuting. For it is very often the case that he is of such a character as to receive no words of rebuke. What then is the preacher to do in the case of the sin of this person, but that in the charge of admonition, which he makes for the general wellbeing of all his hearers, he should bring forward such fault, as he sees that he has been guilty of, who is by, and cannot as yet be charged on his own account individually, lest he be rendered worse? and while invective in general is aimed against the fault, the word of rebuke is readily brought home to the mind, in that the powerful bad man does not know that it is delivered against himself in particular. What then did his preacher to this person, but in sparing not spare? against whom he at once brought not words of rebuke with any special reference, and yet hit his wound under a general admonition; and hence it is very often brought to pass that he bewails the sin committed so much the more bitterly, in proportion as even when he feels himself struck, he supposes his guilt not to be known.

Therefore it must be managed with wonderful art in preaching that those who are made worse by open rebuke, may by a certain abatement of rebuke be brought to a state of saving health. Whence too Paul saith, And those members of the body which we think to be less honourable, upon those we bestow more abundant honour, and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness; for our comely parts have no need. For as there are uncomely members in the body, so there are persons within the bosom of Holy Church, powerful and insolent, who, whereas they do not admit of being stricken with open upbraiding, are as it were cloked with the respectfulness of a covering. But this we speak of the secret transgressions of the powerful; for when they sin and others know of it, they are also to be rebuked, and others should know of it; lest, if the preacher hold his peace, he seem to have sanctioned the sin, and this which the tongue of the pastor does not cut off, going on increasing, should come to be an example. Thus while Holy Church by her preachers rebukes particular deeds of wicked men under the covert conveyance of a general reproof, she 'moves her lips, as if sparing;' but yet while sparing spareth not, in that she does not in general hold her peace to the reproving of a fault, which in the special case she does.