+ Gregory the Great born in 540 was son of Gordianus, a
Roman officer, and was related to three saints and a Pope who was also a saint.
He was educated by the finest teachers in Rome, and then became prefect of Rome
for a year, but then he sold his possessions, turned his home into a Benedictine
monastery and used his money to build six monasteries in Sicily and one in
Rome. He himself became a Benedictine monk. Upon seeing English children being
sold in the Roman Forum, he became a missionary to England. On this date,
September 3, 590, he became the first monk to be chosen Pope. This was done by
unanimous acclamation.
He then sent a monk named
Augustine and others to evangelize England; he also sent other missionaries to
France, Spain and Africa. He had a love of sacred music and collected the
melodies and plain chant so associated with him that they are now known as
Gregorian chants. He did extensive writing on the Mass and the Divine Office;
he wrote especially about the role of the
bishop as a servant; he is the first to use the term for the pope being
called “the servant of the servants of God.” He died March 12, 604 at Rome of
natural causes. He is one of the four original Doctors of the Latin Church, and
the first Pope to be named “Great.”
If you asked Gregory his
motivation for all his works he would tell you that it was love of God and of his people; he would tell you that any success
he had as preacher, teacher, writer was the work of God and not his own; he
would tell you that he was but an “instrument of light,” the light of Christ
shining on the world so desperately in need of it. And of course, he would tell
you that, just as Jesus came to serve, to
be a slave of all for their salvation – so should be our role with one
another, but especially those who seek roles of greatness as leaders in the
Christian community: success here means, self-abnegating,
self-sacrificial service for the sake of God and his kingdom. It is not
what the world would consider fashionable; but it is what God would consider
praiseworthy – and that which really counts?
May we pray today that so many
of our own errant, negligent and criminally accountable clergy, in both the
ranks of bishops, priests and the pope himself – might examine their
consciences today in the life, love and legacy of St. Gregory the Great! and
then do the right thing!
Proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the
nations.
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