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 Coming
events cast their shadows before: Gregory was the prefect of Rome before he
was 30. After five years in office he resigned, founded six monasteries on
his Sicilian estate and became a Benedictine monk in his own home at Rome.
Ordained a priest, he became one of the pope's seven deacons, and also
served six years in the East as papal nuncio in Constantinople. He was
recalled to become abbot, and at the age of 50 was elected pope by the
clergy and people of Rome.
He was direct and firm. He removed unworthy priests from office, forbade
taking money for many services, emptied the papal treasury to ransom
prisoners of the Lombards and to care for persecuted Jews and the victims of
plague and famine. He was very concerned about the conversion of England,
sending 40 monks from his own monastery. He is known for his reform of the
liturgy, for strengthening respect for doctrine. Whether he was largely
responsible for the revision of "Gregorian" chant is disputed.
Gregory lived in a time of perpetual strife with invading Lombards and
difficult relations with the East. When Rome itself was under attack, it was
he who went to interview the Lombard king.
An Anglican historian has 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 book, Pastoral Care, on the duties and qualities of a bishop, was read
for centuries after his death. He described bishops mainly as physicians
whose main duties were preaching and the enforcement of discipline. In his
own down-to-earth preaching, Gregory was skilled at applying the daily
gospel to the needs of his listeners. Called "the Great," Gregory has been
given a place with Augustine, Ambrose and Jerome as one of the four key
doctors of the Western Church.
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