Some Notes on Pope Gregory I, St. Gregory the Great (c. 540-604).
1. Gregory was born in Rome c. 540. His father, Gordianus, was a wealthy patrician. His mother, Silvia, took religious vows after Gordianus’ death and is honored as a saint. Two of Gregory’s aunts, Tarsilla and Aemiliana, the sisters of Gordianus, have also been canonized. Not much is known about his early years. But as a young man, he was devoted to God and loved to meditate on the Scriptures.
2. When he was about 30 years old, he became prefect of Rome. But in 574 after long prayer and an inward struggle, he decided to abandon everything in order to become a monk. He gave up his Sicilian estates and converted his home on the Caelian Hill in Rome into the monastery of St. Andrew. Here he himself took the cowl and gave up his luxuries. For about three years, Gregory lived in great austerity.
3. In 578, Pope Pelagius ordained him one of the seven deacons of Rome. It was a period of acute crisis. The Lombards with their heretical Arian clergy, were advancing toward Rome. The Pope sent a special embassy to seek help from Emperor Tiberius of Byzantium. Gregory went as a permanent ambassador. To counteract the worldly atmosphere of the Byzantine Court, Gregory followed the monastic life with several of his brother monks who had accompanied him. With them, he prayed and studied the Scriptures and wrote his “Morals,” a series of lectures on the Book of Job.
4. At this time, the bitter controversy between Gregory and Eutychius, the Patriarch of Constantinople, occurred. Against Eutychius’ position, Gregory affirmed that the Risen Body of Christ was “palpable,” using Lk. 24:39 as evidence. The dispute became so prolonged and bitter that the Emperor Tiberius decided to call both of them. They argued before the Emperor, who decided that Gregory was correct. The book of Eutychius was burned. He recanted at his deathbed.
5. But Gregory failed to obtain help from Constantinople. He returned to Rome and to his monastery. Soon afterwards, he became the Abbot. He lectured to his brethren on many books of the Old Testament and revised his “Magna Moralia” on the book of Job.
6. During this period, he desired to convert the Angles or English as a result of meeting some English youths. Pope Pelagius permitted him to go to Britain with some of his fellow monks as missionaries. But the Romans were greatly incensed at the departure of Gregory. So important was he to them that they brought him back to Rome with his companions. When Gregory became Pope, he fulfilled his dream. He sent missionaries to England, including Augustine of Canterbury.
7. In 589, disaster struck. The Tiber overflowed. Farms, buildings, and the granaries of the Church were destroyed by floods. A plague followed. Numerous corpses were buried in common. Then in February 590, Pope Pelagius died. Without any hesitation, the clergy and the people of Rome chose the chief assistant and adviser of Pope Pelagius, Abbot Gregory. But Gregory shrank from the dignity. He refused and wrote a letter to the Emperor Maurice. But the prefect of Rome insisted on setting a formal schedule of the election.
8. As the plague continued, Gregory called for a vast seven-fold procession which was to start from each of the seven regions of the city and meet at the Basilica of the Blessed Virgin, all the while praying for pardon and the withdrawal of the plague. This was done. The castle of Sant’ Angelo now stands as a testimony to the successful prayers of the faithful. Legend has it the Archangel Michael appeared at the summit of Hadrian in the act of sheathing his sword as a sign that the plague was over.
9. After six months of waiting, the emperor’s confirmation of Gregory’s election arrived. On 3 September 590, he was consecrated Pope, the 64th after St. Peter. He was the first to use the term, “Servant of the Servants of God,” (“servus servorum Dei”). For the 14 years, 590-604, that he served as Pope he suffered almost continually from various illnesses.
10. At the very outset of his pontificate, he wrote his “Liber Pastoralis Curae,” a book on the office of a bishop. This little work remained the textbook of the episcopate for centuries. Gregory practiced what he wrote.
11. Yet as Pope, Gregory still lived with monastic simplicity. He provided food for the numerous indigent poor and nourished them spiritually with his exhortatory sermons. For the poor, he could never do enough, even “emptying” his treasury for them, He instituted the “stations,” still observed in the Roman Missal. After the procession to the church of the “station,” he would preach sermons to immense crowds, exposing the Scriptures in simple words and anecdotes.
12. Throughout the Middle Ages, he was known as the “Father of Christian Worship,” because of his revision of the Roman liturgy. Western plainchant or the “Gregorian Chant” was attributed to him. A reformer, he strictly enforced the law of clerical celibacy.
13.Against the Patriarch of Constantinople, Pope Gregory insisted on the Apostolic See’s primacy of honor and supreme jurisdiction over the Church Universal. He objected strongly to the interference of temporal powers in ecclesiastical matters. He protected the rights of the Jews to liberty of action. He protected monasteries against the powers of bishops.
14. The last years of Gregory’s life were full of physical suffering. The end came on 12 March 604. He was 64 years old and was almost immediately acclaimed a saint by popular acclamation. His remains are at the St. Clement Chapel, Basilica of St. Peter.
15. Along with St. Augustine, St. Jerome and St. Ambrose, St. Gregory is honored as one of the four Great Latin Fathers and is a Doctor of the Church. The beginning of medieval spirituality is attributed to him. He is the patron saint of musicians and teachers.
16. Prayer: O God, you care for your people with gentleness and love. Through the intercession of Pope St. Gregory, endow, we pray, with a spirit of wisdom those to whom you have given authority to govern, that the flourishing of a holy flock may become the eternal joy of the shepherds. This we pray, through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Prayers, best wishes, God bless!