Apostleship of Prayer - Saints
September 3 - Gregory, the Great
Gregory was born about 540 into a family that was not only wealthy but also was proud of its descent from Popes. At the age of thirty he became prefect of Rome. He resigned this office and became a monk. After his ordination as a deacon he was sent to Constantinople as Papal Nuncio. He remained there for six years, after which he was recalled to Rome where he became the Abbot of a Benedictine Monastery. At the age of fifty he was elected Pope.
He was a direct person and a firm one. However he was noted for his service to the poor of Rome. He cared for the tenants on his properties and above all he extended protection to the Jews. His sense of justice dominated his life and this brought enmity from all classes of people.
He is famous for at least two things: he sent forty Benedictine missionaries to England and he also reformed the Mass especially the chant for the liturgy. It is disputed that he constructed the Gregorian Chant but this music from his age on has had a great appeal to the hearts of people since his time.
It has been written: "It is impossible to conceive what would have been the confusion, the lawlessness, the chaotic state of the middle ages without the medieval papacy; and of the medieval papacy, the real father is Gregory , the Great."
His highly influential book, " Pastoral Care" outlined for centuries the duties and care that a bishop had to show to his flock. The book was concerned not only with the bishop's practical duties but also his spiritual duties. Bishops were described as physicians: they were to have physical care of their people but also spiritual care.
He died in 604 and was canonized a few years later. He has been associated with Augustine, Ambrose, and Jerome as one of the key Doctors of the Church of the Mediaeval age.
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