Pope, Doctor of the Church
(540-604)
Among all the Pastors whom our Lord Jesus Christ has placed, as His visible head upon earth over the universal Church, there is not one whose merits and renown have surpassed those of the holy Pope, whose feast we honor today. His name is Gregory, which signifies 'watchfulness'. His surname is 'The Great.'
In recounting the glories of this illustrious Pontiff, it is but natural we should begin with his zeal for the services of the Church. The Roman Liturgy, which owes to him some of its finest hymns, may be considered as his work. He it is that collected together and classified the prayers and rites drawn up by his predecessors, and reduced them to the form in which we now have them. He also collected the ancient chants of the Church, and arranged them in accordance with the rules and requirements of the divine Service. Hence it is, that our sacred music, which gives such solemnity to the liturgy, and inspires the soul with respect and devotion during the celebration of the great mysteries of our Faith, is known as the Gregorian chant.
He is, then, the Apostle of the Liturgy, and this alone would have immortalized his name; but we must look for far greater things from such a Pontiff as Gregory. His name was added to the big three, as it were: Ambrose, Augustine, and Jerome, as a Doctor of the universal Church. His writings found evidence of his having been guided by the Holy Ghost with such a knowledge of the sacred Scriptures, and thus welcomed him as a new guide for her children.
Saint Gregory the Great was a Roman of noble Christian birth, the son of a canonized Saint, his mother, Saint Silva; and he was the nephew of two others, Saints Tarsilla and Emiliana. At thirty years of age he became the Prefect of Rome, the highest civil dignity of that city. On his father's death in 574 he gave his great wealth to the poor, turned his house on the Caelian Hill into the monastery which now bears his name, and for several years lived as a perfect monk. His famous exposition of the Book of Job dates from his monastic years.
The Pope drew him from his seclusion in 578 to make him one of the seven deacons of Rome; and for seven years he rendered great service to the Church as what we now call Papal Nuncio to the imperial court at Constantinople. He had been sent there to obtain assistance against the Lombard invasions, but returned with a conviction which was a foundation of his later activity, that no help could any longer be obtained from that court. When he was recalled to Rome he became Abbot of his Monastery, then known by the name of Saint Andrew's.
While still a monk the Saint was struck by the sight of some fair-complexioned boys who were exposed for sale in Rome, and heard with sorrow that they were pagans. "And of what race are they?" he asked. "They are Angli. (English)" "Worthy indeed to be Angels of God," said he. He at once obtained permission from the Pope to set out to evangelize the English. With several companion monks he had already made a three-days' journey when the Pope, ceding to the regrets of the Roman people, sent out messengers to overtake and recall them. Still the Angles were not forgotten, and one of the Saint's first cares as Pope was to send, from his own monastery, Saint Augustine and forty more monks to England.
On the death of Pope Pelagius II, Saint Gregory was compelled to take upon himself the government of the Church. This was after the following incident. He had been sent by the Pope to straighten out a patriarch who had become mistaken by thinking that our flesh would not rise again at the end of the world. He changed this thinking just before expiring. Upon returning and finding that the Pope had died, Gregory was elected unanimously as the successor. He refused, as long as it was possible, the honor offered him. He disguised himself and hid in a cave. He was found out by a pillar of fire shining over the place. (you can't hide from God) For fourteen years his pontificate was a perfect model of ecclesiastical rule. He healed schisms, revived discipline, and saved Italy by converting the wild Arian Lombards who were laying it waste; he aided in the conversion of the Spanish and French Goths, who also were Arians, and kindled anew in Britain the light of the Faith, which the Anglo-Saxons had extinguished in blood. He set in order the Church's prayers and chant, guided and consoled her pastors with innumerable letters, and preached incessantly, most effectively by his own example. Many of his sermons are still extant and are famous for their constant use of Holy Scripture. His writings are numerous and include fourteen books of his letters.
Saint Gregory I died in 604, worn out by austerities and toils. The Church includes him among her four great Latin doctors, and reveres him as Saint Gregory the Great.
Reflection. The champions of the Faith prove the truth of their teaching no less by the holiness of their lives, rather than by the force of their arguments. Never forget that to bring others to God you must first see to your own soul.
I will end this post with paragraphs of a prayer by our beloved Abott Gueranger:
'Father of the Christian people! Vicar of the charity, as well as of the authority, of Christ! O Gregory, vigilant Pastor! the Church, which thou hast so faithfully loved and served, turns to thee with confidence. Thou canst not forget the flock, which keeps up such an affectionate remembrance of thee; hear the prayer she offers thee on this thy solemnity. Protect and guide the Pontiff, who now holds the place of Peter, as thou didst; enlighten and encourage him in the difficulties wherewith he is beset. Bless the hierarchy of the pastors, which has received from thee such magnificent teachings and such admirable examples. Assist it to maintain inviolate the sacred trust of Faith; bless the efforts it is now making for the restoration of ecclesiastical discipline, without which all is disorder and confusion. God chose thee as the regulator of the divine service, the holy Liturgy; foster, by thy blessing, the zeal which is now rising up among us for those holy Traditions of prayer, which have been so neglected; teach us the long-forgotten secret, that the best way of praying is to use the prayers of the Church. Unite all Churches in obedience to the Apostolic See, which is the ground and pillar of Faith, and the fountain of spiritual authority...
These are the days of salvation; pray for the faithful, who have entered on their career of penance. Obtain for them compunction of heart, love of prayer, and an appreciation of the Liturgy and its mysteries. The solemn and devout homilies which thou didst address, at this season, to the people of Rome, are still read to us; may they sink into our hearts and fill them with fear of God's justice and mercy change not to suit the time. We are weak and timid, and this makes us count as harsh the laws of the Church which oblige us to fasting and abstinence; get us brave hearts, brave with the spirit of mortification. Thy holy life is an example to us, and thy writings are our instruction; what we still want is to be made true penitents, and this thy intercession must do for us: that so we may return, with the joy of a purified conscience, to the divine Alleluia, which thou hast taught us to sing on earth, and which we hope to chant together with thee in heaven.'
AMEN
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