Gregory the Great also known as Pope Gregory I

“Perhaps it is not after all so difficult for a man to part with his possessions, but it is certainly most difficult for him to part with himself. To renounce what one has is a minor thing; but to renounce what one is, that is asking a lot”
St. Gregory, Homilies on the Gospels.

Feast Day is September 3

He became Pope in 590 and was a vigilant guardian of the Church’s doctrine. He was the founder of numerous monasteries including a school for the training of church musicians. He collected the melodies and plain chant so associated with him that they are now known as Gregorian Chants.[1] In his lifetime, he was a Monk, an abbot, a leader of Italy. Also, a momentous influence on the Catholic Church through doctrine, organization and discipline. Gregory of Tours tells us that in grammar, rhetoric and dialectic he was so skillful as to be thought second to none in all Rome. [2] Gregory became a patron saint of England for sending St. Augustine of Canterbury on missions there. One of Gregory’s greatest accomplishments were his writings Dialogues, a book on the Lives of the Saints. He was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Boniface VIII in 1295.

Pope Gregory’s constant care was for his bishops and priests. Early in his pontificate, he published his Pastoral Rule on the duties of a bishop. For centuries, these writings remained the textbook of the clerical life.

On the first of each month, and on the holy days inbetween, the Pope would assist and oversee the distribution of meat, fish, vegetables, wheat, corn, oil, cheese, wine and clothing. Gregory sought all the food and wood in the papal lands that could be gathered to provide for the needs of his impoverished people. [8] From that time forth the varied populations of Italy looked to the Pope for guidance, and Rome as the papal capital continued to be the centre of the Christian world thanks to St. Gregory.

The last years of Gregory’s life were filled with every kind of suffering. He died March 12, 604. Immediately, he was laid to rest in front of the sacristy in the portico of St. Peter’s Basilica. Since then Gregory’s relics have been moved several times.

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