Of the Exemption of Monasteries.
ALthough St. Gregory always subjected the Monks to the ordinary Jurisdiction of the Bishop, yet he granted them some Priviledges, which neither tended to subvert the Order of the Church, nor to exempt them from Episcopal Jurisdiction, but only to procure them more Repose.
He exempted the Monastery of Ariminum from the Visitation of the Bishop after the Death of the Abbot, and from the Celebration of Publick Messes; but he left to the Bishop the Right of Ordain∣ing him Abbot whom the Monks should choose, B. 4. Ep. 41 & 43. in Ep. 12. of B. 6. He grants the Abbess of the Monastery of Nuns at Marseilles, which is said to be consecrated in honour of St. Cas∣sianus, the following Priviledges; That after the Death of the Abbess, no Abbess that is a Stranger shall be set over them, but she whom the Nuns shall choose. 2. That the Abbess shall have the Ad∣ministration of the Revenue of the Abby, and neither the Bishop nor any other Person shall meddle with it. 3. That the Bishop shall Celebrate Divine Service there on the day of its Dedication, and that his Chair shall not continue there the rest of the time; but on other days Divine Service shall be perform'd there by the Priest whom the Bishop shall send thither. 4. That the Bishop in Person shall take Cognizance of the Faults of the Abbess, or the other Nuns.
In B. 7. Ind. 2. Ep. 116. which is address'd to the Bishop of Arles, he confirms the Priviledges granted by the Holy See to a Monastery of Monks at Arles without specifying them.
He says in Ep. 12. of B. 1. That the Bishop ought not to hinder the saying of Messes, and burying the Dead in Monasteries.
He forbids Bishops to be burdensome to Monks, or to exact any thing of them, B. 5. Ep. 28. B. 7. Ind. 1. Ep. 18, 33.