Saint of the day September 3: Saint Gregory the Great. Catholic Saints

Every September 3, the Catholic Church celebrates Saint Gregory the Great (Pope Gregory I), monk, mystic and reformer, who redefined the figure of the papacy in the 6th century by proclaiming himself as “servant of the servants of God.”

The distinctive note of Saint Gregory, whom they called “great” (from the Latin magnusgreat), was its simplicity. Being head of the Church and, therefore, holding great power, he understood himself to be the most humble servant of all. Precisely, that is where his greatness lies, that he knew how to make himself small in order to be great in the way of Christ.

Saint Gregory was the sixty-fourth Pope of the Catholic Church; He is part of the group of the four Fathers of the Latin Church and is counted among the Doctors of the Church. Likewise, it is worth mentioning that Gregory I was the first monk to occupy the see of Peter. He once stated: “Where love exists, great things are done”; and, in many ways his exemplary life was testimony to that.

“Man of consensus”

Saint Gregory the Great was born in Rome in the year 540, into an ancient Roman family from which two popes had already emerged: Felix III (483-492), who is believed to have been his great-grandfather; and Agapitus I (535-536), a distant relative.

Being young, he entered the administrative career for which he had been assigned, reaching the position of prefect around the year 573; However, he abandoned her to become a monk. Following this turn, on the death of his father (575), he converted the family home into a monastery, later known as the Monastery of St. Andrew. Similarly, he disposed of the rest of his personal property for the benefit of the Church.

Later, Pope Pelagius II appointed him a deacon and sent him to Constantinople as an “apocrisiary” (which today is equivalent to an apostolic nuncio). He remained there for a few years until he was called back to Rome to occupy the position of papal secretary. He had to live there during difficult years, as the Eternal City would suffer natural disasters, famines due to the barbarian siege and, finally, the plague. The latter was the one that ended the life of his predecessor, Pope Pelagius.

In such circumstances, Gregory would be elected “Bishop of Rome and Supreme Pontiff” thanks to the harmony that existed, at that time, between the clergy, the Roman people and the senate regarding his personal qualities.

As Pope, Saint Gregory dedicated himself to the task of establishing relations of brotherhood with all possible kingdoms and governments, with the desire that the Church continue with the announcement of the Gospel throughout the world.

Magnus: a servant in the See of Peter (590-604)

Once in charge of the See of Peter – he assumed the see on September 3, 590 -, he was concerned about the conversion of peoples considered distant at that time, and the new civil and political organization of Europe after the fall. of the Western Roman Empire.

Upon accessing the pontificate, Saint Gregory the Great, from Rome, had to carry out a double task: watch over his “city” on the way to heaven and, at the same time, over Europe in the process of social and political reorganization. The fragmentation of the known world after the progressive weakening of imperial power had left the Church alone in terms of maintaining “unity” among peoples, or in any case, of a certain “administrative structure” that now subsisted with too much difficulty. Rome looked at Byzantium and Byzantium did not respond.

In this context, Pope Gregory negotiated with kings, nobles, ancestral houses, fallen authorities and the heads of barbarian peoples. The saint was a crucial figure in achieving a certain harmony when the people of continental Europe no longer expected the restructuring or recomposition of the “lost order.”

The ties established by San Gregorio favored the encounter between different worlds in the heat of an evangelizing movement. In particular, it is worth mentioning his concern for the insular Anglo-Saxon world (England). The Pope sent missionaries to the British Isles and put Saint Augustine of Canterbury to lead that enterprise.

On the other hand, he allied himself with the monastic orders, because he saw in them the guarantee that the Church would remain solid – a good building rests on solid foundations, and those for the Church depend on prayer; while, politically, he curbed the expansionist ambitions of the Franks and Lombards.

Always renew yourself in Love

The “great” Pope of the Early Middle Ages made the liturgy “the apple of his eye.” It is the core of Christian life because it is, par excellence, the meeting space between God and his people. One of the most important aspects of the liturgical celebration is singing, which, as is known, is a privileged form of prayer.

Gregory ordered the compilation of the music and the ancient antiphons that were sung in the Church and promoted a style and musical structure that he considered conducive to the liturgy – whose center is the Eucharist -, heritage of what was then known as School of Singers (School of those who sing). Thus he contributed to the evolution of what would be called, precisely, “Gregorian chant”, as a way of honoring the memory of the saint.

In this task, Saint Gregory was very thorough: he managed to collect the long tradition of Christian song – born in the catacombs – and which could now vibrate in the temples for the pleasure of the human spirit. Unfortunately, a good part of that “antiphonary” (musical record) was lost, until at the beginning of the 20th century it was recovered by Pope Saint Pius X, to become the “official song of the Catholic Church” forever.

Echoes in the 21st century

Many other things can be written about Saint Gregory the Great, such as his intervention on the doctrine of “purgatory”, a topic committed to the theology of salvation in different ways.

It is enough for now to resort to what was said by Pope Benedict XVI, who in a general audience on May 28, 2008, referred to Saint Gregory the Great with these words: “In a disastrous time, even more desperate, (Saint Gregory) knew create peace and give hope. This man of God shows us where the true sources of peace are and where true hope comes from; He thus becomes a guide for us today as well.”

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If you want to know more about this illustrious Pope, we recommend this article from the Catholic Encyclopedia: https://ec.aciprensa.com/wiki/Papa_San_Gregorio_I_Magno.

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