12
March. 1662 Book
of Common Prayer. Gregory the Great.
“Gregory the
Great, Bishop. Bishop of Rome (590-604), the real
founder of the greatness of the Papacy. Of noble birth, and high rank and
education, he became a monk, and continued till the end his love for monastic
life and principles. Made Pope against his will in 590, he rose to the
exigencies of the critical time, when the extinction of the Western Empire made
him at once Bishop of the Roman Church, Patriarch of the West, and virtual sovereign
and representative of Rome itself; and proved himself as a ruler and organizer,
a preacher and writer, unquestionably the greatest man of his age. His
pontificate was marked by the conversion from Arianism of the Spanish Visigoths
and the Lombards; and by the English Church he deserves special commemoration,
as having been (through St. Augustine of Canterbury) the true Apostle of
Anglo-Saxon Christianity. He was the introducer of the "Gregorian"
music, superseding the simpler Ambrosian; and his Sacramentary, following the earlier one of Gelasius, is
a great storehouse of the ancient Liturgical forms of the Western Church, from
which our Collects are largely borrowed. -- March 12th.”
The Venerable Bede gives this
account of Gregory and his relationship to the Church of England at: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/bede-greggrea.asp
“Medieval Sourcebook:
Bede: Gregory the Great
“Tradition has assigned the name Great to only two
Popes, Leo I (440-461) and Gregory I (590-604). The latter is
often remembered for his efforts to promote the conversion of the English. The
following account is from St. Bede's classic work (written before 731) on early
English Church history.
“In the year of our Lord 605, having ruled the apostolic
Roman Church most illustriously for thirteen years, six months, and ten days,
the blessed Pope Gregory died and was taken up to his eternal home in heaven. And
it is fitting that he should receive special mention in this history, since it
was through his zeal that our English nation was brought from the bondage of
Satan to the Faith of Christ, and we may rightly term him our own apostle. For
during his pontificate, while he exercised supreme authority over all the
churches of Christendom that had already long since been converted, he
transformed our still idolatrous nation into a church of Christ. So we may
rightly describe him as our own apostle, for while others may not regard him in
this light, he was certainly an apostle to our own nation, and we are the seal
of his apostleship in the Lord.
“Gregory was Roman-born, son of Gordian, and came of a noble
and devout family. Felix, once bishop of the same apostolic see, a man of high
distinction in the Church of Christ, was one of his ancestors, and Gregory
maintained this family tradition by the nobility and devotion of his religious
life. By God's grace, he employed his recognized worldly position solely to win
the glory of eternal honour, for he soon retired from secular life and sought
admission to a monastery. There he entered upon a life of such perfection in
grace that in later years he used to recall with tears how his mind was set on
high things, soaring above all that is transitory, and how he was able to
devote himself entirely to the spiritual life. Remaining in the body, he could
yet transcend its limitations in contemplation, and looked forward to death,
which most men regard as a punishment, as the gateway to life and reward of his
labours. He used to mention this, not in order to call attention to his
increase in virtue, but lamenting the loss of virtue sustained in his spiritual
life through his pastoral responsibilities. One day, in conversation with his
deacon Peter, Gregory described his former spiritual state, then sadly
continued: 'My pastoral responsibilities now compel me to have dealings with
worldly men, and when I recall my former peace, it seems that my mind is
bespattered with the mire of daily affairs. For when I am wearied by attention
to the worldly affairs of numberless people and wish to meditate on spiritual
things, I seem to approach them with unmistakably lessened powers. So when I
compare what I now endure with what I have lost, and when I weigh that loss, my
burden seems greater than ever.'
“Holy Gregory spoke in this way from deep humility, yet we
cannot help but feel that he lost none of his monastic perfection through his
pastoral cares, and gained greater merit by his labours for the conversion of
souls than in his former peaceful life, especially since, even when he became
Pope, he ordered his house as a monastery. When he was first summoned from his
monastery, ordained to the ministry of the altar, and sent to Constantinople as
representative of the apostolic see, he never abandoned his spiritual
exercises, although compelled to mix with people of the Imperial court. For
some of his fellow-monks were so devoted to him that they accompanied him to
the Imperial city, and he began to maintain a regular religious observance with
them. In this way, as he records, their example proved an anchor-cable that
held him fast to the peaceful shore of prayer while he was tossed on the
restless waves of worldly affairs, and his studies in their company enabled him
to refresh a mind distracted by earthly concerns. He was not only strengthened
against the temptations of the world by their fellowship, but inspired to ever
greater spiritual activity.
“When these companions urged him to write a mystical
commentary on the often obscure book of Job, he could not refuse a task imposed
on him by brotherly affection, which would be of help to many people. So he
first gave a clear exposition of its literal meaning in thirty-five sections,
and followed by showing how the book refers to Christ and the sacraments of the
Church, and in what sense it applies to all the faithful. He began this work
when Papal representative in the Imperial city, and completed it in Rome after
he became Pope. It was during his stay in Constantinople that Gregory, a mighty
champion of Catholic truth, suppressed at its birth a new heresy about our
state at the resurrection. For Eutyches, bishop of that city, taught that our
bodies will then be impalpable, more intangible than wind and air: but when
Gregory heard this, he quoted the example of our Lord's Resurrection, and
showed logically how this opinion was utterly opposed to the orthodox belief.
For the Catholic belief is that the body is transfigured in the glory of
immortality and refined by the operation of spiritual power, but remains
palpable by reason of its nature. This is exemplified in our Lord's risen body,
of which he said: 'Touch Me, and see, for a spirit has not flesh and bones as
you see Me have.' In defense of the Faith, our venerable father Gregory
contested this rising heresy so effectively that, with the help of the devout
Emperor Tiberius Constantine, it was entirely suppressed, and no one has since
been found to revive it.
“Gregory also wrote a notable book, The Pastoral Office, in
which he describes in clear terms the qualities essential in those who rule the
Church, showing how they should live; how they should carefully instruct all
their people; and how they should always bear in mind their own frailty. He also
compiled forty Homilies on the Gospel, which he divided into two volumes. He
wrote four books of Dialogues, in which at the request of his deacon Peter, he
included the lives of the saints of Italy to serve as patterns of holy life for
posterity. So whereas in his Commentaries he showed what virtues are necessary,
in describing the miracles of the saints he made clear the potency of those
virtues. In twenty-two homilies he also revealed the profound teaching latent
in the early and latter parts of the prophet Ezekiel, which had hitherto
remained very obscure. Further, he compiled a book of answers in reply to the
questions of Saint Augustine, first bishop of the English nation.... In
conjunction with the bishops of Italy he also compiled the short Synodical
Book, which deals with the administration of the Church. He also wrote a large
number of personal letters. The extent of his writings is a source of amazement
when one considers that throughout his youth he was often in agony from gastric
pain, and frequently troubled by a slow fever. But in all these afflictions he
reflected that holy scripture says: 'The Lord scourgeth every son that He
receiveth', and the greater his worldly sufferings, the greater his assurance
of eternal joy.
“Much might be said of his imperishable genius, which was
unimpaired even by the most severe physical afflictions; for while other popes
devoted themselves to building churches and enriching them with costly
ornaments, Gregory's sole concern was to save souls. He regularly gave whatever
money he had to relieve the poor, in order that 'his righteousness might remain
for ever, and his horn be exalted with honour.' . . . In addition to his deeds
of kindness and justice, we should remember with gratitude how Gregory saved
our nation from the grasp of the ancient Enemy by the preachers whom he sent
us, and brought it into the abiding liberty of God. He was full of joy at its
conversion and salvation, as he mentions in his Commentary on Job: 'The
Britons, who formerly knew only their own barbaric tongue, have long since
begun to cry the Hebrew Alleluia to the praise of God. The once restless sea
now lies quiet before the feet of His saints, and its ungovernable rages, which
no earthly princes could tame by the sword, are now quelled at the simple word
of His priests in the fear of God. Heathen nations who never trembled before
armed hosts now accept and obey the teachings of the humble For now that the
grace of the knowledge of God has enlightened them and they see His heavenly
truths and mighty wonders, the fear of God restrains them from their former
wickedness, and they desire with all their hearts to win the prize of eternal
life.' Gregory also tells how the holy Augustine and his companions guided the
English nation to knowledge of the truth both by their preaching and their
miracles.
“Among many other matters, blessed Pope Gregory decreed that
Mass should be said over the tombs of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul in their
churches. He also introduced into the Canon of the Mass three excellent and
valuable petitions: Order our days in Thy peace, preserve us from eternal
damnation, and number us in the flock of Thine elect, Through Christ our Lord.
“Gregory ruled the Church during the reigns of the Emperors
Maurice and Phocas, and in the second year of the latter's reign he passed from
this life and entered the true life of heaven. His body was laid to rest on
March the fourth in the church of Saint Peter the Apostle before the sacristy,
whence he will one day rise in glory with other shepherds of Holy Church. On
his tomb was inscribed this epitaph:
“Receive, O earth, the body that you gave, Till God's
lifegiving power destroy the grave. His heaven-bound soul no deadly power, no
strife Can harm, whose death is but the gate of life. The tomb of this high
Pontiff, now at rest, Recalls his life and deeds for ever blest. He fed the
hungry, and he clothed the chill, And by his message saved their souls from
ill. Whate'er he taught, he first fulfilled in deed, And proved a pattern in
his people's need. To Christ he led the Angles, and by grace To Faith and
Church he added a new race. O holy pastor, all your work and prayer To God you
offered with a shepherd's care. High place in heaven is your just reward, In
triumph and in joy before the Lord.
“I must here relate a story which shows Gregory's deep desire
for the salvation of our nation. We are told that one day some merchants who
had recently arrived in Rome displayed their many wares in the crowded
market-place. Among other merchandise Gregory saw some boys exposed for sale.
These had fair complexions, fine-cut features, and fair hair. Looking at them
with interest, he enquired what country and race they came from. 'They come
from Britain,' he was told, 'where all the people have this appearance.' He
then asked whether the people were Christians, or whether they were still
ignorant heathens. 'They are pagans,' he was informed. 'Alas!' said Gregory
with a heartfelt sigh: 'how sad that such handsome folk are still in the grasp
of the Author of darkness, and that faces of such beauty conceal minds ignorant
of God's grace! What is the name of this race?' 'They are called Angles,' he
was told. 'That is appropriate,' he said, 'for they have angelic faces, and it
is right that they should become fellow-heirs with the angels in heaven. And
what is the name of their Province?' 'Deira,' was the answer. 'Good. They shall
indeed be de ira saved from wrath and called to the mercy of Christ. And what
is the name of their king?' he asked. 'Aella', he was told. 'Then must Alleluia
be sung to the praise of God our Creator in their land,' said Gregory, making
play on the name.
“Approaching the Pope of the apostolic Roman see for he was
not yet Pope himself Gregory begged him to send preachers of the word to the English
people in Britain to convert them to Christ, and declared his own eagerness to
attempt the task should the Pope see fit to direct it. But this permission was
not forthcoming, for although the Pope himself was willing, the citizens of
Rome would not allow Gregory to go so far away from the city. But directly
Gregory succeeded to the Papacy himself, he put in hand this long cherished
project and sent other missionaries in his place, assisting their work by his
own prayers and encouragement. And I have thought it fitting to include this
traditional story in the history of our Church.
“Source.
“Bede: Ecclesiastical history of the English People”
From Wikipedia:
Pope Gregory I (Latin: Gregorius I; c. 540 – 12 March
604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great,[1] was Pope from 3 September 590 to his death in 604. Gregory is well known for his
writings, which were more prolific than those of any of his predecessors as
pope.[2] He is also known
as St. Gregory the Dialogist in Eastern
Orthodoxy because of his Dialogues. For this reason,
English translations of Orthodox texts will sometimes list him as "Gregory
Dialogus".Throughout the Middle Ages he was known as “the Father of Christian Worship” because of his exceptional efforts in revising the Roman worship of his day.[3] His contributions to the development of the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, still in use in the Eastern Orthodox Church, were so significant that he is generally recognized as its de facto author.
He was the first of the popes to come from a monastic background. Gregory is a Doctor of the Church and one of the Latin Fathers. He is considered a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, and some Lutheran churches. Immediately after his death, Gregory was canonized by popular acclaim.[4] The Protestant reformer John Calvin admired Gregory and declared in his Institutes that Gregory was the last good pope.[5] He is the patron saint of musicians, singers, students, and teachers.[6]
Contents
- 1 Early life
- 2 Monastic years
- 3 Apocrisiariate (579–585)
- 4 Missions
- 5 Papacy (590–604)
- 6 Works
- 6.1 Liturgical reforms
- 6.2 Writings
- 6.3 Controversy with Eutychius
- 6.4 Identification of three figures in the Gospels
- 7 Iconography
- 8 Alms
- 9 Famous quotes and anecdotes
- 10 Memorials
- 11 See also
- 12 References
- 13 Bibliography
- 14 External links
- 15 Notes
Early life
The exact date of Gregory's birth is uncertain, but is usually estimated to be around the year 540,[7] in the city of Rome. His parents named him Gregorius, which according to Aelfric in An Homily on the Birth-Day of S. Gregory, "... is a Greek Name, which signifies in the Latin Tongue Vigilantius, that is in English, Watchful...."[8] The medieval writers who give this etymology[9] do not hesitate to apply it to the life of Gregory. Aelfric, for example, goes on: "He was very diligent in God's Commandments."[10]Gregory was born into a wealthy patrician Roman family with close connections to the church. His father, Gordianus, who served as a Senator and for a time was the Prefect of the City of Rome,[11] also held the position of Regionarius in the church, though nothing further is known about that position. Gregory's mother, Silvia, was well-born and had a married sister, Pateria, in Sicily. His mother and two paternal aunts are honored by Catholic and Orthodox churches as saints.[11] Gregory's great-great-grandfather had been Pope Felix III,[12] the nominee of the Gothic king, Theodoric.[13] Gregory's election to the throne of St Peter made his family the most distinguished clerical dynasty of the period.[14]
The family owned and resided in a villa suburbana on the Caelian Hill, fronting the same street, now the Via di San Gregorio, with the former palaces of the Roman emperors on the Palatine Hill opposite. The north of the street runs into the Colosseum; the south, the Circus Maximus. In Gregory's day the ancient buildings were in ruins and were privately owned.[15] Villas covered the area. Gregory's family also owned working estates in Sicily[16] and around Rome.[17] Gregory later had portraits done in fresco in their former home on the Caelian and these were described 300 years later by John the Deacon. Gordianus was tall with a long face and light eyes. He wore a beard. Silvia was tall, had a round face, blue eyes and a cheerful look. They had another son whose name and fate are unknown.[18]
Gregory was born into a period of upheaval in Italy. From 542 the so-called Plague of Justinian swept through the provinces of the empire, including Italy. The plague caused famine, panic, and sometimes rioting. In some parts of the country, over 1/3 of the population was wiped out or destroyed, with heavy spiritual and emotional effects on the people of the Empire.[19] Politically, although the Western Roman Empire had long since vanished in favour of the Gothic kings of Italy, during the 540s Italy was gradually retaken from the Goths by Justinian I, emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire ruling from Constantinople. As the fighting was mainly in the north, the young Gregory probably saw little of it. Totila sacked and vacated Rome in 547, destroying most of its ancient population, but in 549 he invited those who were still alive to return to the empty and ruined streets. It has been hypothesized that young Gregory and his parents retired during that intermission to their Sicilian estates, to return in 549.[20] The war was over in Rome by 552, and a subsequent invasion of the Franks was defeated in 554. After that, there was peace in Italy, and the appearance of restoration, except that the central government now resided in Constantinople.
Like most young men of his position in Roman society, Saint Gregory was well educated, learning grammar, rhetoric, the sciences, literature, and law, and excelling in all.[11] Gregory of Tours reported that "in grammar, dialectic and rhetoric ... he was second to none...."[21] He wrote correct Latin but did not read or write Greek. He knew Latin authors, natural science, history, mathematics and music and had such a "fluency with imperial law" that he may have trained in it "as a preparation for a career in public life."[21] Indeed, he became a government official, advancing quickly in rank to become, like his father, Prefect of Rome, the highest civil office in the city, when only thirty-three years old.[11]
The monks of St. Andrew's monastery (located at the ancestral home on the Caelian) had a portrait of Gregory made after his death, which John the Deacon also saw in the 9th century. He reports the picture of a man who was "rather bald" and had a "tawny" beard like his father's and a face that was intermediate in shape between his mother's and father's. The hair that he had on the sides was long and carefully curled. His nose was "thin and straight" and "slightly aquiline." "His forehead was high." He had thick, "subdivided" lips and a chin "of a comely prominence" and "beautiful hands."[22]
In the modern era, Gregory is often depicted as a man at the border, poised between the Roman and Germanic worlds, between East and West, and above all, perhaps, between the ancient and medieval epochs.[23]
Monastic years
On his father's death, he converted his family villa suburbana, located on the Caelian Hill just opposite the Circus Maximus, into a monastery dedicated to the apostle Saint Andrew. After his death it was rededicated as San Gregorio Magno al Celio. In his life of contemplation, Gregory concluded that “in that silence of the heart, while we keep watch within through contemplation, we are as if asleep to all things that are without." [24] It seems to some that Gregory was not always forgiving, or pleasant for that matter, even in his monastic years. For example, a monk lying on his death bed confessed to stealing three gold pieces. Gregory forced the monk to die friendless and alone, then threw his body and coins on a manure heap to rot with a curse, “Take your money with you to perdition”. Gregory believed that punishment of sins can begin, even on one's deathbed.[25] However, this was done to help the monk to repent of his sin, and not out of a misplaced anger. The penance from St Gregory did in fact help him to repent, and afterwards St Gregory offered 30 Masses in his remembrance to assist his soul before the final judgment. He later appeared to his brother and said that he has been released and is in Heaven.[26] Eventually, Pope Pelagius II ordained him a deacon and solicited his help in trying to heal the schism of the Three Chapters in northern Italy. However, Italy was not healed until well after Gregory was gone.[27]
Gregory had a deep respect for the monastic life. He viewed being a monk as the 'ardent quest for the vision of our Creator.'[28] His three paternal aunts were nuns renowned for their sanctity. However, after the two eldest passed away after seeing a vision of their ancestor Pope Felix, the youngest soon abandoned the religious life and married the steward of her estate. Gregory's response to this family scandal was “many are called but few are chosen."[29] Gregory's mother Silvia herself is a saint.
Apocrisiariate (579–585)
Illumination
in a 12th-century manuscript of a letter of Gregory's to Saint Leander, bishop of Seville (Bibl. Municipale, MS 2, Dijon).According to Ekonomou, "if Gregory's principal task was to plead Rome's cause before the emperor, there seems to have been little left for him to do once imperial policy toward Italy became evident. Papal representatives who pressed their claims with excessive vigor could quickly become a nuisance and find themselves excluded from the imperial presence altogether".[32] Gregory had already drawn an imperial rebuke for his lengthy canonical writings on the subject of the legitimacy of John III Scholasticus, who had occupied the Patriarchate of Constantinople for twelve years prior to the return of Eutychius (who had been driven out by Justinian).[32] Gregory turned himself to cultivating connections with the Byzantine elite of the city, where he became extremely popular with the city's upper class, "especially aristocratic women".[32] Ekonomou surmises that "while Gregory may have become spiritual father to a large and important segment of Constantinople's aristocracy, this relationship did not significantly advance the interests of Rome before the emperor".[32] Although the writings of John the Deacon claim that Gregory "labored diligently for the relief of Italy", there is no evidence that his tenure accomplished much towards any of the objectives of Pelagius II.[33]
Gregory's theological disputes with Patriarch Eutychius would leave a "bitter taste for the theological speculation of the East" with Gregory that continued to influence him well into his own papacy.[34] According to Western sources, Gregory's very public debate with Eutychius culminated in an exchange before Tiberius II where Gregory cited a biblical passage ("Palpate et videte, quia spiritus carnem et ossa non habet, sicut me videtis habere") in support of the view that Christ was corporeal and palpable after his Resurrection; allegedly as a result of this exchange, Tiberius II ordered Eutychius's writings burned.[34] Ekonomou views this argument, though exaggerated in Western sources, as Gregory's "one achievement of an otherwise fruitless apokrisiariat".[35] In reality, Gregory was forced to rely on Scripture because he could not read the untranslated Greek authoritative works.[35] Gregory left Constantinople for Rome in 585, returning to his monastery on the Caelian Hill.[36] Gregory was elected by acclamation to succeed Pelagius II in 590, when the latter died of the plague spreading through the city.[36] Gregory was approved by an Imperial iussio from Constantinople the following September (as was the norm during the Byzantine Papacy).[36]
Missions
Amid all his burdens and anxieties, it seems that the Pope had never forgotten the English slaves whom he had once seen in the Roman Forum.[37] Pope Gregory had strong convictions on missions. "Almighty God places good men in authority that He may impart through them the gifts of His mercy to their subjects. And this we find to be the case with the British over whom you have been appointed to rule, that through the blessings bestowed on you the blessings of heaven might be bestowed on your people also.”[38]Papacy (590–604)
Although Gregory was resolved to retire into the monastic lifestyle of contemplation, he was unwillingly forced back into a world that, although he loved, he no longer wanted to be a part of.[39] In texts of all genres, especially those produced in his first year as pope, Gregory bemoaned the burden of office and mourned the loss of the undisturbed life of prayer he had once enjoyed as a monk.[40] When he became Pope in 590, among his first acts was writing a series of letters disavowing any ambition to the throne of Peter and praising the contemplative life of the monks. At that time, for various reasons, the Holy See had not exerted effective leadership in the West since the pontificate of Gelasius I. The episcopacy in Gaul was drawn from the great territorial families, and identified with them: the parochial horizon of Gregory's contemporary, Gregory of Tours, may be considered typical; in Visigothic Spain the bishops had little contact with Rome; in Italy the territories which had de facto fallen under the administration of the papacy were beset by the violent Lombard dukes and the rivalry of the Jews in the Exarchate of Ravenna and in the south.
Gregory is credited with re-energizing the Church's missionary work among the non-Christian peoples of northern Europe. He is most famous for sending a mission, often called the Gregorian mission, under Augustine of Canterbury, prior of Saint Andrew's, where he had perhaps succeeded Gregory, to evangelize the pagan Anglo-Saxons of England. The mission was successful, and it was from England that missionaries later set out for the Netherlands and Germany. The preaching of the Catholic faith and the elimination of all deviations from it was a key element in Gregory's worldview, and it constituted one of the major continuing policies of his pontificate.[41]According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, he was declared a saint immediately after his death by "popular acclamation".[1]
In his official documents, Gregory was the first to make extensive use of the term "Servant of the Servants of God" (servus servorum Dei) as a papal title, thus initiating a practice that was to be followed by most subsequent popes.[42]
Works
Liturgical reforms
John the Deacon wrote that Pope Gregory I made a general revision of the liturgy of the Pre-Tridentine Mass, "removing many things, changing a few, adding some". In letters, Gregory remarks that he moved the Pater Noster (Our Father) to immediately after the Roman Canon and immediately before the Fraction. This position is still maintained today in the Roman Liturgy. The pre-Gregorian position is evident in the Ambrosian Rite. Gregory added material to the Hanc Igitur of the Roman Canon and established the nine Kyries (a vestigial remnant of the litany which was originally at that place) at the beginning of Mass. He also reduced the role of deacons in the Roman Liturgy.Sacramentaries directly influenced by Gregorian reforms are referred to as Sacrementaria Gregoriana. With the appearance of these sacramentaries, the Western liturgy begins to show a characteristic that distinguishes it from Eastern liturgical traditions. In contrast to the mostly invariable Eastern liturgical texts, Roman and other Western liturgies since this era have a number of prayers that change to reflect the feast or liturgical season; These variations are visible in the collects and prefaces as well as in the Roman Canon itself.
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Gregory is credited with compiling the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts.
Gregory wrote over 850 letters in the last 13 years of his life (590–604) that give us an accurate picture of his work.[43] A truly autobiographical presentation is nearly impossible for Gregory. The development of his mind and personality remains purely speculative in nature.[44]
Gregorian chant
Main article: Gregorian chant
The mainstream form of Western plainchant, standardized in the late 9th century,[45] was attributed to
Pope Gregory I and so took the name of Gregorian chant. The earliest such
attribution is in John the Deacon's 873 biography of Gregory, almost three
centuries after the Pope's death, and the chant that bears his name "is
the result of the fusion of Roman and Frankish elements which took place in the
Franco-German empire under Pepin, Charlemagne and their successors".[46]Writings
Gregory is commonly credited with founding the medieval papacy and so many attribute the beginning of medieval spirituality to him.[47] Gregory is the only Pope between the fifth and the eleventh centuries whose correspondence and writings have survived enough to form a comprehensive corpus. Some of his writings are:- Commentary on Job, frequently known in English-language histories by its Latin title, Magna Moralia, or as Moralia on Job. This is one of the longest patristic works. It was possibly finished as early as 591. It is based on talks Gregory gave on the Book of Job to his 'brethren' who accompanied him to Constantinople. The work as we have it is the result of Gregory's revision and completion of it soon after his accession to the papal office.[48]
- Liber regulae pastoralis (Book of Pastoral Rule / The Rule for Pastors), in which he contrasted the role of bishops as pastors of their flock with their position as nobles of the church: the definitive statement of the nature of the episcopal office. This was probably begun before his election as pope and finished in 591.
- Dialogues, a collection of four books of miracles, signs, wonders, and healings done by the holy men, mostly monastic, of sixth-century Italy, with the second book entirely devoted to a popular life of Saint Benedict[49]
- Sermons, including:
- The sermons include the 22 Homilae in Hiezechielem (Homilies on Ezekiel), dealing with Ezekiel 1.1-4.3 in Book One, and Ezekiel 40 in Book 2. These were preached during 592-3, the years that the Lombards besieged Rome, and contain some of Gregory's most profound mystical teachings. They were revised eight years later.
- The Homilae xl in Evangelia (Forty Gospel Homilies) for the liturgical year, delivered during 591 and 592, which were seemingly finished by 593
- Expositio in Canticis Canticorum. Only 2 of these sermons on the Song of Songs survive, discussing the text up to Song 1.9.
- In Librum primum regum expositio (Commentary on 1 Kings)
- Copies of some 854 letters have survived. During Gregory's time, copies of papal letters were made by scribes into a Registrum (Register), which was then kept in the scrinium. It is known that in the 9th century, when John the Deacon composed his Life of Gregory, the Registrum of Gregory's letters was formed of 14 papyrus rolls (though it is difficult to estimate how many letters this may have represented). Though these original rolls are now lost, the 854 letters have survived in copies made at various later times, the largest single batch of 686 letters being made by order of Adrian I (772-95).[48] The majority of the copies, dating from the 10th to the 15th century, are stored in the Vatican Library.[50]
Controversy with Eutychius
In Constantinople, Gregory took issue with the aged Patriarch Eutychius of Constantinople, who had recently published a treatise, now lost, on the General Resurrection. Eutychius maintained that the resurrected body "will be more subtle than air, and no longer palpable".[52] Gregory opposed with the palpability of the risen Christ in Luke 24:39. As the dispute could not be settled, the Byzantine emperor, Tiberius II Constantine, undertook to arbitrate. He decided in favor of palpability and ordered Eutychius' book to be burned. Shortly after both Gregory and Eutychius became ill; Gregory recovered, but Eutychius died on 5 April 582, at age 70. On his deathbed Eutychius recanted impalpability and Gregory dropped the matter. Tiberius also died a few months after Eutychius.Identification of three figures in the Gospels
Gregory was among those who identified Mary Magdalene with Mary of Bethany, whom John 12:1-8 recounts as having anointed Jesus with precious ointment, an event that some interpret as being the same as the anointing of Jesus that Luke (alone among the synoptic Gospels) recounts as performed by a sinful woman.[53] Preaching on the passage in the Gospel of Luke, Gregory remarked: "This woman, whom Luke calls a sinner[54] and John calls Mary,[55] I think is the Mary from whom Mark reports[56] that seven demons were cast out."[57] Today Biblical scholars distinguish the three figures, but they are all still popularly identified.[58]Iconography
In art Gregory is usually shown in full pontifical robes with the tiara and double cross, despite his actual habit of dress. Earlier depictions are more likely to show a monastic tonsure and plainer dress. Orthodox icons traditionally show St. Gregory vested as a bishop, holding a Gospel Book and blessing with his right hand. It is recorded that he permitted his depiction with a square halo, then used for the living.[59] A dove is his attribute, from the well-known story recorded by his friend Peter the Deacon,[60] who tells that when the pope was dictating his homilies on Ezechiel a curtain was drawn between his secretary and himself. As, however, the pope remained silent for long periods at a time, the servant made a hole in the curtain and, looking through, beheld a dove seated upon Gregory's head with its beak between his lips. When the dove withdrew its beak the pope spoke and the secretary took down his words; but when he became silent the servant again applied his eye to the hole and saw the dove had replaced its beak between his lips.[61]
This scene is shown as a version of the traditional Evangelist portrait (where the Evangelists' symbols are also sometimes shown dictating) from the tenth century onwards. An early example is the dedication miniature from the an eleventh-century manuscript of St. Gregory's Moralia in Job.[62] The miniature shows the scribe, Bebo of Seeon Abbey, presenting the manuscript to the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry II. In the upper left the author is seen writing the text under divine inspiration. Usually the dove is shown whispering in Gregory's ear for a clearer composition.
The imaginative and anachronistic example at the top of this article is from the studio of Carlo Saraceni or by a close follower, ca. 1610. From the Giustiniani collection, the painting is conserved in the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome.[63] The face of Gregory is a caricature of the features described by John the Deacon mentioned under his early life above: total baldness, outthrust chin, beak-like nose, where John had described partial baldness, a mildly protruding chin, slightly aquiline nose and strikingly good looks. In this picture also Gregory has his monastic back on the world, which the real Gregory, despite his reclusive intent, was seldom allowed to have.
The late medieval subject of the Mass of St Gregory shows a version of a 7th-century story that was elaborated in later hagiography. Gregory is shown saying Mass when Christ as the Man of Sorrows appears on the altar. The subject was most common in the 15th and 16th centuries, and reflected growing emphasis on the Real Presence, and after the Protestant Reformation was an assertion of the doctrine against Protestant theology.[64]
Alms
Alms in Christianity is defined by passages of the New Testament such as Matthew 19:21, which commands "...go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor ... and come and follow me." A donation on the other hand is a gift to some sort of enterprise, profit or non-profit.On the one hand the alms of St. Gregory are to be distinguished from his donations, but on the other he probably saw no such distinction. The church had no interest in secular profit and as pope Gregory did his utmost to encourage that high standard among church personnel. Apart from maintaining its facilities and supporting its personnel the church gave most of the donations it received as alms.
Gregory is known for his administrative system of charitable relief of the poor at Rome. They were predominantly refugees from the incursions of the Lombards. The philosophy under which he devised this system is that the wealth belonged to the poor and the church was only its steward. He received lavish donations from the wealthy families of Rome, who, following his own example, were eager to expiate to God for their sins. He gave alms equally as lavishly both individually and en masse. He wrote in letters:[65]
"I
have frequently charged you ... to act as my representative ... to relieve the
poor in their distress ...."
"...
I hold the office of steward to the property of the poor ...."
The church received donations of many different kinds of property: consumables such as food and
clothing; investment property: real
estate and works of art; and capital
goods, or revenue-generating property, such
as the Sicilian latifundia, or agricultural estates, staffed and operated by slaves, donated by Gregory and his family. The church already had a system for
circulating the consumables to the poor: associated with each parish was a diaconium
or office of the deacon. He was given a building
from which the poor could at any time apply for assistance.[66][67]The state in which Gregory became pope in 590 was a ruined one. The Lombards held the better part of Italy. Their predations had brought the economy to a standstill. They camped nearly at the gates of Rome. The city was packed with refugees from all walks of life, who lived in the streets and had few of the necessities of life. The seat of government was far from Rome in Constantinople, which appeared unable to undertake the relief of Italy. The pope had sent emissaries, including Gregory, asking for assistance, to no avail.
In 590, Gregory could wait for Constantinople no longer. He organized the resources of the church into an administration for general relief. In doing so he evidenced a talent for and intuitive understanding of the principles of accounting, which was not to be invented for centuries. The church already had basic accounting documents: every expense was recorded in journals called regesta, "lists" of amounts, recipients and circumstances. Revenue was recorded in polyptici, "books". Many of these polyptici were ledgers recording the operating expenses of the church and the assets, the patrimonia. A central papal administration, the notarii, under a chief, the primicerius notariorum, kept the ledgers and issued brevia patrimonii, or lists of property for which each rector was responsible.[68]
Gregory began by aggressively requiring his churchmen to seek out and relieve needy persons and reprimanded them if they did not. In a letter to a subordinate in Sicily he wrote: "I asked you most of all to take care of the poor. And if you knew of people in poverty, you should have pointed them out ... I desire that you give the woman, Pateria, forty solidi for the children's shoes and forty bushels of grain ...."[69] Soon he was replacing administrators who would not cooperate with those who would and at the same time adding more in a build-up to a great plan that he had in mind. He understood that expenses must be matched by income. To pay for his increased expenses he liquidated the investment property and paid the expenses in cash according to a budget recorded in the polyptici. The churchmen were paid four times a year and also personally given a golden coin for their trouble.[70]
Money, however, was no substitute for food in a city that was on the brink of famine. Even the wealthy were going hungry in their villas. The church now owned between 1,300 and 1,800 square miles (3,400 and 4,700 km2) of revenue-generating farmland divided into large sections called patrimonia. It produced goods of all kinds, which were sold, but Gregory intervened and had the goods shipped to Rome for distribution in the diaconia. He gave orders to step up production, set quotas and put an administrative structure in place to carry it out. At the bottom was the rusticus who produced the goods. Some rustici were or owned slaves. He turned over part of his produce to a conductor from whom he leased the land. The latter reported to an actionarius, the latter to a defensor and the latter to a rector. Grain, wine, cheese, meat, fish and oil began to arrive at Rome in large quantities, where it was given away for nothing as alms.[71]
Distributions to qualified persons were monthly. However, a certain proportion of the population lived in the streets or were too ill or infirm to pick up their monthly food supply. To them Gregory sent out a small army of charitable persons, mainly monks, every morning with prepared food. It is said that he would not dine until the indigent were fed. When he did dine he shared the family table, which he had saved (and which still exists), with 12 indigent guests. To the needy living in wealthy homes he sent meals he had cooked with his own hands as gifts to spare them the indignity of receiving charity. Hearing of the death of an indigent in a back room he was depressed for days, entertaining for a time the conceit that he had failed in his duty and was a murderer.[70]
These and other good deeds and charitable frame of mind completely won the hearts and minds of the Roman people. They now looked to the papacy for government, ignoring the rump state at Constantinople, which had only disrespect for Gregory, calling him a fool for his pacifist dealings with the Lombards. The office of urban prefect went without candidates. From the time of Gregory the Great to the rise of Italian nationalism the papacy was most influential in ruling Italy.
Famous quotes and anecdotes
- Non Angli, sed angeli – "They are not Angles, but angels". Aphorism, summarizing words reported to have been spoken by Gregory when he first encountered pale-skinned English boys at a slave market, sparking his dispatch of St. Augustine of Canterbury to England to convert the English, according to Bede.[72] He said: "Well named, for they have angelic faces and ought to be co-heirs with the angels in heaven."[73] Discovering that their province was Deira, he went on to add that they would be rescued de ira, "from the wrath", and that their king was named Aella, Alleluia, he said.[74]
- Ecce locusta – "Look at the locust." Gregory himself wanted to go to England as a missionary and started out for there. On the fourth day as they stopped for lunch a locust landed on the edge of the Bible Gregory was reading. He exclaimed ecce locusta, "look at the locust", but reflecting on it he saw it as a sign from Heaven since the similar sounding loco sta means "stay in place." Within the hour an emissary of the pope[75] arrived to recall him.[73]
- “I beg that you will not take the present amiss. For anything, however trifling, which is offered from the prosperity of St. Peter should be regarded as a great blessing, seeing that he will have power both to bestow on you greater things, and to hold out to you eternal benefits with Almighty God.”
- Pro cuius amore in eius eloquio nec mihi parco – "For the love of whom (God) I do not spare myself from His Word."[76][77] The sense is that since the creator of the human race and redeemer of him unworthy gave him the power of the tongue so that he could witness, what kind of a witness would he be if he did not use it but preferred to speak infirmly?
- “For the place of heretics is very pride itself...for the place of the wicked is pride just as conversely humility is the place of the good.”[41]
- Non enim pro locis res, sed pro bonis rebus loca amanda sunt – "Things are not to be loved for the sake of a place, but places are to be loved for the sake of their good things." When Augustine asked whether to use Roman or Gallican customs in the mass in England, Gregory said, in paraphrase, that it was not the place that imparted goodness but good things that graced the place, and it was more important to be pleasing to the Almighty. They should pick out what was "pia", "religiosa" and "recta" from any church whatever and set that down before the English minds as practice.[78]
- "For the rule of justice and reason suggests that one who desires his own orders to be observed by his successors should undoubtedly keep the will and ordinances of his predecessor."[79] In his letters, Gregory often emphasized the importance of giving proper deference to last wills and testaments, and of respecting property rights.
- “Compassion should be shown first to the faithful and afterwards to the enemies of the church.”[80]
- "At length being anxious to avoid all these inconveniences, I sought the haven of the monastery… For as the vessel that is negligently moored, is very often (when the storm waxes violent) tossed by the water out of its shelter on the safest shore, so under the cloak of the Ecclesiastical office, I found myself plunged on a sudden in a sea of secular matters, and because I had not held fast the tranquillity of the monastery when in possession, I learnt by losing it, how closely it should have been held."[81] In Moralia, sive Expositio in Job (“Commentary on Job,” also known as Magna Moralia), Gregory describes to the Bishop Leander the circumstances under which he became a monk.
- "Illiterate men can contemplate in the lines of a picture what they cannot learn by means of the written word." [82]
Memorials
Lives
In Britain, appreciation for Gregory remained strong even after his death, with him being called Gregorius noster ("our Gregory") by the British.[83] It was in Britain, at a monastery in Whitby, that the first full length life of Gregory was written, in c. 713.[84] Appreciation of Gregory in Rome and Italy itself, however, did not come until later. The first vita of Gregory written in Italy was not produced until John the Deacon in the 9th century.
Monuments
Tomb of St. Gregory at St.
Peter's, Rome
The namesake church of San Gregorio al Celio (largely rebuilt from the original edifices during the 17th and 18th
centuries) remembers his work. One of the three oratories annexed, the oratory
of St. Silvia, is said to lie over the tomb of Gregory's mother.In England, Gregory, along with Augustine of Canterbury, is revered as the apostle of the land and the source of the nation's conversion.[85]
Music
Italian composer Ottorino Respighi composed a piece named St. Gregory the Great (San Gregorio Magno) that features as the fourth and final part of his Church Windows (Vetrate di Chiesa) works, written in 1925.Feast day
The current Roman Catholic calendar of saints, revised in 1969 as instructed by the Second Vatican Council,[86] celebrates St. Gregory the Great on 3 September. Before that, the General Roman Calendar assigned his feast day to 12 March, the day of his death in 604. This day always falls within Lent, during which there are no obligatory memorials. For this reason his feast day was moved to 3 September the day of his episcopal consecration in 590.[87]The Eastern Orthodox Church[note 1] continue to commemorate St. Gregory on 12 March which is during Great Lent, the only time when the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, which names Saint Gregory as its author, is used.
Other Churches also honour Saint Gregory: the Church of England and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod on 3 September, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Episcopal Church in the United States on 12 March.
A traditional procession is held in Żejtun, Malta in honour of Saint Gregory (San Girgor) on Easter Wednesday, which most often falls in April, the range of possible dates being 25 March to 28 April. The feast day of St. Gregory also serves as a commemorative Day for the former pupils of Downside School, the so-called Old Gregorians. Traditionally, the OG ties are worn by all of the society's members on this day.
References
1. ^ Jump up
to: a b 
Huddleston,
Gilbert (1909). "Pope St. Gregory I ("the Great")". Catholic Encyclopedia 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Gregory had come to be known as 'the Great' by the late
ninth century, a title which is still applied to him. See John Moorhead, Gregory
the Great, (Routledge, 2005), p1
Huddleston,
Gilbert (1909). "Pope St. Gregory I ("the Great")". Catholic Encyclopedia 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Gregory had come to be known as 'the Great' by the late
ninth century, a title which is still applied to him. See John Moorhead, Gregory
the Great, (Routledge, 2005), p1
3. Jump up ^ Christian Life and Worship
(Dissertations in European Economic History), 1948, 1979, Gerald Ellard
(1894–1963), Arno Press, ISBN 0-405-10819-2 ISBN 9780405108198,
p. 125. [1]
4. Jump up ^ F.L. Cross, ed. (2005).
"Gregory I". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church.
New York: Oxford University Press.
5. Jump up ^ F.L. Cross, ed. (1515).
"Institutes of the Christian Religion Book IV". Institutes of the
Christian Religion Book IV. New York: Oxford University Press.
6. Jump up ^ "St. Gregory the Great". Web site of Saint Charles Borromeo Catholic Church. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
7. Jump up ^ Gregory mentions in Dialogue
3.2 that he was alive when Totila attempted to murder Carbonius, Bishop of Populonia, probably in 546. In a letter of 598 (Register,
Book 9, Letter 1) he rebukes Bishop Januarius of Cagliari, Sardinia, excusing himself for not observing 1 Timothy 5.1, which
cautions against rebuking elders. 5.9 defines elderly women to be 60 and over,
which may apply to everyone. Gregory appears not to consider himself an elder,
limiting his birth to no earlier than 539, but 540 is the typical selection.
Dudden (1905), page 3, notes 1–3. The presumption of 540 has continued in
modern times - see for example Richards, Jeffrey (1980). Consul of God.
London: Routledge & Keatland Paul.
8. Jump up ^ Aelfric; Elizabeth Elstob
(translator); William Elstob (1709). An English-Saxon Homily on the
Birth-day of St. Gregory: Anciently Used in the English-Saxon Church, Giving an
Account of the Conversion of the English from Paganism to Christianity.
London: W. Bowyer. p. 4.
9. Jump up ^ Elizabeth goes on to state
that "Paulus Diaconus, who first writ the life of St. Gregory, and is followed by all the after
Writers on that subject, observes that 'ex Greco eloquio in nostra lingua ...
vigilator, seu vigilans sonat." However, Paul the deacon is too late for
the first vita, or life.
10. Jump up ^ The name is Biblical, derived
from New Testament contexts: grēgorein is a present, continuous aspect, meaning to be
watchful of forsaking Christ. It is derived from a more ancient perfect,
egrēgora, "roused from sleep", of egeirein, "to awaken
someone." Thayer,
Joseph Henry (1962). Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament being
Grimm's Wilke's Clavis Novi Testamenti Translated Revised and Enlarged.
Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House.
42. Jump up ^ "Servus servorum Dei".
Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913.
"Servus servorum Dei".
Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913.
45. Jump up ^ Kenneth Levy, Gregorian Chant and the
Carolingians(Princeton University Press 1998 ISBN 9780691017334), p. 7
46. Jump up ^ Gregory Murray, Gregorian Chant
According to the Manuscripts (L. J. Cary & Co. 1963), pp. 3-4
49. Jump up ^ * Gardner, Edmund G. (editor) (1911. Reprinted 2010). The Dialogues of Saint Gregory the Great. Merchantville, NJ: Evolution Publishing. ISBN 978-1-889758-94-7.
50. Jump up ^ Ambrosini, Maria Luisa; Mary Willis
(1996). The Secret Archives of the
Vatican. Barnes & Noble
Publishing. pp. 63–64. ISBN 9780760701256.
52. Jump up ^ Smith, William; Henry Wace (1880). A
Dictionary of Christian Biography, Literature, Sects and Doctrines: Being a
Continuation of 'The Dictionary of the Bible': VolumeII Eaba – Hermocrates.
Boston: Little, Brown and Company. p. 415. The dictionary account is apparently based on Bede, Book II, Chapter 1, who used the expression
"...impalpable, of finer texture than wind and air."
57. Jump up ^ "Hanc vero quam Lucas
peccatricem mulierem, Ioannes Mariam nominat, illam esse Mariam credimus de qua
Marcus septem daemonia eiecta fuisse testatur" (Patrologia Latina
76:1239)
58. Jump up ^ Ingrid Maisch, Mary Magdalene: The
Image of a Woman through the Centuries (Liturgical Press 1988 ISBN
9780814624715), chapter 10
59. Jump up ^ Gietmann, G. (1911).
"Nimbus". The Catholic Encyclopedia XI. New York: Robert Appleton Company
63. Jump up ^ Saraceni, Carlo;
Emil Kren; Daniel Marx (1996). "St. Gregory the Great". Web Gallery of Art. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
64. Jump up ^ Rubin, Miri, Corpus
Christi: The Eucharist in Late Medieval Culture, pp. 120–122, 308–310,
Cambridge University Press, 1992, ISBN 0-521-43805-5, ISBN 978-0-521-43805-6 Google books
66. Jump up ^ Later these deacons became
cardinals and from the oratories attached to the buildings grew churches.
67. Jump up ^ Smith, William; Samuel Cheetham (1875). A dictionary of Christian antiquities:
Comprising the History, Institutions, and Antiquities of the Christian Church,
from the Time of the Apostles to the Age of Charlemagne. J. Murray.
pp. 549 under diaconia.
68. Jump up ^ Mann, Horace Kinder; Johannes
Hollnsteiner (1914). The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages: Volume
X. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., Ltd. p. 322.
71. Jump up ^ Deanesly, Margaret (1969). A
History of the Medieval Church, 590–1500. London, New York: Routledge.
pp. 22–24. ISBN 9780415039598.
72. Jump up ^ Historia
ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, II.i. http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/bede/bede2.shtml
73. ^ Jump up
to: a b Hunt, William
(1906). The Political History of England. Longmans, Green. p. 115.
74. Jump up ^ The earliest life written a
generation earlier than Bede at Whitby relates the same story but in it the
English are merely visitors to Rome questioned by Gregory (see Holloway, who
translates from the manuscript kept at St. Gallen). The earlier story is not necessarily the more
accurate, as Gregory is known to have instructed presbyter Candidus in Gaul by letter to buy young English slaves for placement in
monasteries. These were intended for missionary work in England: Ambrosini
& Willis (1996) page 71.
77. Jump up ^ Homilies on Ezekiel
Book 1.11.6. For the text in manuscript see Codices Electronici Sangalienses:
Codex 211, page 193 column 1, line 5 (External links below.)
78. Jump up ^ Bede, Ecclesiastical
History of the English People, Book I section 27 part II. Bede is
translated in Bede; Judith McClure, Bertram
Colgrave, Roger Collins (editors, translators, contributors) (1999). The
Ecclesiastical History of the English People: The Greater Chronicle ;
Bede's Letter to Egbert. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780192838667.
79. Jump up ^ Gregory the Great. The
Letters of Gregory the Great. Trans. John R. C. Martyn. 3 vols. (2004). Book
VI, Epistle XII.
81. Jump up ^ Pope Gregory I, Moralia, sive
Expositio in Job, published by Nicolaus Kessler Basel, 1496.
83. Jump up ^ Champ, Judith (2000). The
English Pilgrimage to Rome: A Dwelling for the Soul. Gracewing Publishing.
pp. ix. ISBN 9780852443736.
84. Jump up ^ A monk or nun at Whitby A.D. 713;
Julia Bolton Holloway, ed. (1997–2008). "The Earliest Life of St. Gregory the great". Julia Bolton Holloway. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
Bibliography
Modern editions
- Homilae in Hiezechihelem prophetam, ed Marcus Adriaen, CCSL 142, (Turnhout: Brepols, 1971)
Translations
- The Dialogues of Saint Gregory the Great, trans Edmund G Gardner, (London & Boston, 1911)
- Pastoral care, trans Henry Davis, ACW 11, (Newman Press, 1950)
- Reading the Gospels with Gregory the Great: Homilies on the Gospels, 21-26, trans Santha Bhattacharji, (Petersham, MA, 2001) [translations of the 6 Homilies covering Easter Day to the Sunday after Easter]
- The letters of Gregory the Great, translated, with introduction and notes, by John RC Martyn, (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 2004). [3 volume translation of the Registrum epistularum]
- Gregory the Great: On the Song of Songs, CS244, (Collegeville, MN, 2012)
Secondary literature
- Cantor, Norman F. (1993). The Civilization of the Middle Ages. New York: Harper.
- Cavadini, John, ed. (1995). Gregory the Great: A Symposium. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.
- Dudden, Frederick H. (1905). Gregory the Great. London: Longmans, Green, and Co. OCLC 502650100.
- Ekonomou, Andrew J. 2007. Byzantine Rome and the Greek Popes: Eastern influences on Rome and the papacy from Gregory the Great to Zacharias, A.D. 590–752. Lexington Books.
- Gardner, Edmund G. (editor) (1911. Reprinted 2010). The Dialogues of Saint Gregory the
Great. Merchantville, NJ: Evolution Publishing. ISBN 978-1-889758-94-7.
- Richards, Jeffrey (1980). Consul of God. London: Routelege & Keatland Paul.
- Straw, Carole E. (1988). Gregory the Great: Perfection in Imperfection. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- Leyser, Conrad (2000). Authority and Asceticism from Augustine to Gregory the Great. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- Markus, R.A. (1997). Gregory the Great and His World. Cambridge: University Press.
- Ricci, Cristina (2002). Mysterium dispensationis. Tracce di una teologia della storia in Gregorio Magno. Rome: Centro Studi S. Anselmo. (Italian). Studia Anselmiana, volume 135.
- Thornton, Father James (2006). Made Perfect in Faith. Etna, California, USA: Center for Traditionalist Orthodox Studies. ISBN 0-911165-60-6.
External links
- "Documenta Catholica Omnia: Gregorius I Magnus". Cooperatorum Veritatis Societas. 2006. Retrieved 2008-08-10. (Latin). Index of 70 downloadable .pdf files containing the texts of Gregory I.
- "Complete English translation of Gregory's Moralia in Job.". . Found on the website: Lectionary Central.
- Gregory the Great (2007). "Homiliae in Ezechielem I-XXII". Codices Electronici Sangallenses: Codex 211 (in mediaeval Latin written in Carolingian minuscule). Stiftsbibliothek St.Gallen. Retrieved 2008-08-10. Photographic images of a manuscript copied about 850–875 AD.
- "St Gregory Dialogus, the Pope of Rome". Orthodox Church in America. Retrieved 2008-08-10. Orthodox icon and synaxarion.
- Women's Biography: Barbara and Antonina, contains two of his letters.
- St. Gregory engraved by Anton Wierix from the De Verda Collection
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