Today is the feast day of Saint Gregory the Great, pope and doctor of the Church.

Gregory was born in the year 540 of a noble Roman family who believed in the value of education and public service.

At the age of thirty he was appointed mayor of Rome; but after his father’s death, he decided to leave politics and become a Benedictine monk. Around the year 575, he transformed his family’s home into a monastery dedicated to the Apostle St. Andrew; he also established several monasteries on his father’s estates in Sicily. But in the year 579, he was ordained a deacon. Historians have mentioned that ordination was not really what Gregory wanted for his life. He enjoyed studying Scripture and music, writing, praying, and living the life of a Benedictine monk.  At that point in Church history, to be ordained a deacon meant that you were going to have a very public life assisting the local bishop in political, economic, and ecclesiastical affairs.

Pope Pelagius 2 saw Gregory’s talents and tapped him to become his papal ambassador to the imperial city of Constantinople. In Constantinople he gained a great deal of experience in both secular and ecclesiastical politics. Seven years later he was recalled to Rome and was appointed Deacon of Rome and acted as the Pope’s counselor. In 590 when Pope Pelagius died from the plague, the people elected Gregory to be the new pope.

Saint Gregory the Great is a model for all of us. For he, as today’s Gospel (Luke 4: 16-30) implies, also had the Spirit of God upon him. The Lord had anointed him as “the servant of the servants of God” to bring glad tidings to the poor and announce liberty to those captured by sin. The histories tell us that Gregory did not seek to be ordained a deacon or elected a pope; yet, once in those positions he valiantly labored in Christ’s vineyard to perform God’s will as he understood it.

He wrote beautiful and insightful works on theology and the pastoral care of  souls. He implemented some liturgical reforms especially in the area of music. The music that we know today as Gregorian chant developed from his impetus; however, his true greatness is found in his humility, his gentleness in dealing with all types of people, his steadfast devotion and love of Christ, His Scriptures, and prayer. All of these traits, combined with God’s grace and Gregory’s love for the people, helped him solve the practical everyday problems of Christ’s Church in a manner that provided a path for others to follow.

St. Gregory the Great was able to establish a model of the papacy that we still have with us today – the model of the pope, yes, as a suffering servant, but one who is also filled with joy at the challenge of laboring for the people of God in all their various needs. St. Gregory the Great, pray for us.

The image of Pope St. Gregory the Great is from the Vatican grottos and is made available through the courtesy of orbiscatholicussecundus.blogspot.com.

Copyright © 2012 Deacon Paul O. Iacono All Rights Reserved