St. Gregory the Great
540-604
📅 Feast Day: Mar 12
📖 Life Timeline
Unknown
Born in c. 540 AD, Rome
604 AD
Died — March 12, 604 AD, Rome
Pre-
Canonized — Pre-Tridentine
✝ Biography
GREGORY the GREAT (St) Pope, Dr. O.S.B. R.M. March 12 and Sept. 3 c.540-604. The R.M. (Sept. 3) aptly sur- names him Vzr tncomparabilis — an in- comparable man. Born in Rome of pa- trician parents—his mother was St Sylvia — he became before he was thirty years of age the prefect — praetor, mayor —of the city. He soon resigned the office, turned his ancestral home on the Caelian Hill into a Benedictine abbey and became a monk there. Next he was sent to Constantinople as apocrisarius — papal nuncio. On his return he was chosen pope (590), and what he achieved in his fourteen years pontificate makes him one of the most commanding figures in world history. First in importance was his mission to England, whither he sent St Augustine and some forty of his Bene- dictines from the Caelian Hill; this was important not only on account of the con- version of England itself, but also because of the spreading of the Benedictine Rule among the new races of W. Europe. He promoted likewise the conversion of the Lombards in Italy and of the Goths in Spain; upheld the rights of the Roman see against Constantinople; embellished the Liturgy in its sacramentary and in its chant; defended and befriended monach- ism; and cared for the poor in Rome, at Ravenna and on his estates in Sicily. He was moreover a prolific writer; his dia- logues, comprising the only extant life
274 THE BOOK
of St Benedict, and his Regula Pastoralis are classics in ascetical literature. Cf. Att. — Menzies. — Zimm. — Ma...
🛡 Patronage
Patron of: Musicians, singers, schoolchildren, penitents, and the dying. Doctor of the Church.
💬 Words of the Saint
When I served God, I served my soul.
📜 Key Facts
Born
c. 540 AD, Rome
Died
March 12, 604 AD, Rome
Feast Day
Mar 12
Canonized
Pre-Tridentine
🕊 Legacy
Gregory the Great shaped the medieval papacy. His missionary work planted Christianity in England. Gregorian chant remains the official music of the Roman liturgy. He is one of the four great Doctors of the Western Church.
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