Pope Gregory I

Pope Gregory I or Gregory the Great (ca. 540 – March 12, 604) was Pope from September 3, 590 until his death. He is also known as Gregory Dialogus (the Dialogist) in Eastern Orthodoxy because of the Dialogues he wrote. He was the first of the Popes from a monastic background. Gregory is a Doctor of the Church and one of the four great Latin Fathers of the Church (the others being Ambrose, Augustine, and Jerome). Of all Popes, Gregory I had the most influence on the early medieval church.^[1]

Early life

The exact date of Gregory's birth is uncertain, but is usually estimated to be around the year 540. He was born into a wealthy noble Roman family, in a period, however, when the city of Rome was facing a serious decline in population, wealth, and influence. His family seems to have been devout. Gregory's great-great grandfather had been Pope Felix III. Gregory's father, Gordianus, worked for the Roman Church and his father's three sisters were nuns. Gregory's mother Silvia herself is a saint. While his father lived, Gregory took part in Roman political life and at one point was prefect of the city. However, on his father's death, he converted his family home, located on a hill just opposite the Circus Maximus, into a monastery dedicated to the apostle, St. Andrew. Gregory himself entered as a monk.

Eventually, Pope Pelagius II ordained him a deacon and solicited his help in trying to heal the schism of the Three Chapters in northern Italy. In 579, Pelagius chose Gregory as his apocrisiarius or ambassador to the imperial court in Constantinople.

Confrontation with Eutychius

In Constantinople, Gregory gained attention by starting a controversy with Patriarch Eutychius of Constantinople, who had published a treatise on the corporeality of the imminent general resurrection, in which bodies would be incorporeal, to which Gregory contrasted the corporeality of the risen Christ. The heat of argument drew the emperor in as judge. Eutychius' treatise was condemned, and it suffered the normal fate of all heterodox texts, of being publicly burnt. On his return to Rome Gregory acted as first secretary to Pelagius, and was elected Pope to succeed him.

Gregory as Pope

When he became Pope in 590, among his first acts were writing a series of letters disavowing any ambition to the throne of Peter and praising the contemplative life of the Black monks. At that time the See had not exerted effective leadership in the West since the pontificate of Gelasius. The episcopacy in Gaul was drawn from the families of the great territorial families, and identified with them: the parochial horizon of Gregory's contemporary Gregory of Tours may be considered typical; in Visigothic Spain the bishops had little contact with Rome; in Italy the papacy was beset by the violent Lombard dukes and the rivalry of the Jews in the Exarchate of Ravenna and in the south. The scholarship and culture of Celtic Christianity had developed utterly unconnected with Rome, and it was from Ireland that Britain and Germany were likely to become Christianized, or so it seemed.

Lombards

Gregory's action in appointing governors to cities, providing munitions of war, giving instructions to generals, sending ambassadors to the Lombard king, and even negotiating a peace without consulting the Emperor's legate, Romanus, Exarch of Ravenna, mark the decisive acts that revealed the papacy as an independent temporal power. Gregory's childhood in the disasters of the Gothic War, his secular cursus honorum, his sojourn in Constantinople, and doubtless his personal assessment of the Exarch, convinced him that no help from the East was to be expected in the confrontations with the Lombards that began his pontificate. Within days of Gregory's consecration, the death of Authari, King of the Lombards, spawned the familiar violence of a Lombard succession. Authari's Queen, the famous Theodelinda, married Agilulf, Lombard dux in Turin, while the independent dukes Ariulf of Spoleto and Arichis of Benevento, threatened papal and imperial territories in the south.

Gregory expressed the difficulty and danger of his position in some of the earliest letters (Epistles I, iii, viii, xxx); but no actual hostilities began until the summer of 592, when a threatening letter from Ariulf of Spoleto was followed by the appearance of the Lombard before the walls of Rome. At the same time Arichis of Benevento advanced on Naples, which happened at the moment to have neither bishop nor any officer of high rank in command of the garrison. Gregory at once took the unprecedented step of appointing a tribune on his own authority to take command of the city (Epistles II, xxxiv), and of arranging a separate peace with the Lombards (Epistles II, xlv).

Gregory's independent action had the effect of rousing Romanus the exarch, who gathered his troops, attacked and regained Perugia, and then marched to Rome, where he was received with imperial honors. The next spring, however, he left the city and took its garrison with him. The exarch's campaign had roused Agilulf who marched on Rome, arriving there probably some time in June, 593. The terror of the moment is reflected in Gregory's homilies on the prophet Ezechiel, which were delivered at this time. The siege of the city was soon abandoned, however, and Agilulf retired; Gregory's confrontation with Agilulf on the steps of the Basilica of Saint Peter outside the walls of Rome, a favored subject of history painters, was the invention of a chronicler, however. In a letter (V, xxxix) Gregory refers to himself as "the paymaster of the Lombards", and apparently silver was the chief inducement to raise the siege.

The Pope's urgent need now was to secure a lasting peace with the Lombards, which could only be achieved by a proper arrangement between the imperial authorities and the Lombard chiefs, with the Catholic Theodelinda as go-between. A year was passed in fruitless negotiations, when Gregory began once again to mediate a private treaty even without the consent of the Exarch Romanus. This threat was speedily reported to Constantinople and the Emperor Maurice responded with a violent letter, now lost, received in June 595. Luckily, Gregory's scathing reply has been preserved (Epistles V, xxxvi). Still, Gregory seems to have realized that independent action could not secure what he wished, and we hear no more about a separate peace.

Gregory's relations with the Exarch Romanus continued more and more strained until the latter's death in the year 596 or early in 597. The new exarch, Callinicus, was a skilled diplomat and official peace negotiations were pushed on; the peace agreement signed in 599, to Gregory's great joy, lasted only two years: in 601 the war broke out again through an aggressive act on the part of Callinicus, who was recalled two years later. His successor, Smaragdus, again made a peace with the Lombards which endured until after Gregory's death.

Servus servorum Dei

In line with his predecessors such as Clement I, Dionysius, Damasus, and Leo the Great, Gregory asserted the primacy of the office of the bishop of Rome. Although he did not employ the term "Pope", summed up the responsibilities of the papacy in his official appellation, as "servant of the servants of God". As Benedict of Nursia had justified the absolute authority of the abbot over the souls in his charge, so Gregory expressed the hieratic principle that he was responsible directly to God for his ministry.

Gregory's pontificate saw the development of the notion of private penance as parallel to institution of public penance. He explicitly taught a doctrine of Purgatory whereing by a soul destined to undergo purification after death because of certain sins, could begin its purification in this earthly life, through good works, obedience and Christian conduct, making the travails to come lighter and shorter.

Gregory's relations with the Emperor in the East were a cautious diplomatic stand-off. He concentrated his energies in the West, where many of his letters are concerned with the management of papal estates. His relations with the Merovingian kings, encapsulated in his deferential correspondence with Childebert II, laid the foundations for the papal alliance with the Franks that would transform the Germanic kingship into an agency for the Christianization of the heart of Europe — consequences that remained in the future.

More immediately Gregory undertook the conversion of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, where inaction might have encouraged the Celtic missionaries already active in the north of Britain. Sending Augustine of Canterbury to convert the Kingdom of Kent was prepared by the marriage of the king to a Merovingian princess who had brought her chaplains with her. By the time of Gregory's death, the conversion of the king and the Kentish nobles and the establishment of a Christian toehold at Canterbury were established.

Gregory's chief acts as Pope include his long letter issued in the matter of the schism of the Three Chapters of the bishops of Venetia and Istria. He is also known in the East as a tireless worker for communication and understanding between East and West. He is also credited with increasing the power of the papacy.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, he was declared a saint immediately after his death by "popular acclamation".

Liturgical reforms

In letters, Gregory remarks that he moved the Pater Noster (Our Father) to immediately after the Roman Canon and immediately before the Fraction. This position is still maintained today in the Roman Liturgy. The pre-Gregorian position is evident in the Ambrosian Rite. Gregory added material to the Hanc Igitur of the Roman Canon and established the nine Kyrie at the beginning of Mass. He also reduced the role of deacons in the Roman Liturgy.

Sacramentaries directly influenced by Gregorian reforms are referred to as Sacrementaria Gregoriana. With the appearance of these sacramentaries, the Western liturgy begins to show a characteristic that distinguishes it from Eastern liturgical traditions. In contrast to the invariable Eastern liturgical texts, Roman and other Western liturgies since this era have prayers that change to reflect the feast or liturgical season; These variations are visible in the collects and prefaces as well as in the Roman Canon itself.

A system of writing down reminders of chant melodies was probably devised by monks around 800 to aid in unifying the church service throughout the Frankish empire. Charlemagne brought cantors from the Papal chapel in Rome to instruct his clerics in the “authentic” liturgy. A program of propaganda spread the idea that the chant used in Rome came directly from Gregory the Great, who had died two centuries earlier and was universally venerated. Pictures were made to depict the dove of the Holy Spirit perched on Gregory's shoulder, singing God's authentic form of chant into his ear. This gave rise to calling the music "Gregorian chant". A more accurate term is plainsong or plainchant.

Feast Day

The liturgical calendar of Roman Catholic Church, revised in 1969, celebrates September 3rd as the memorial of St. Gregory the Great. The previous calendar, and one still used when the traditional liturgy is celebrated, celebrates March 12. The reason for the transfer to the date of his episcopal consecration rather than his death was to transfer the celebration outside of Lent. The Eastern Catholic Church and Orthodox Church continue to commeorate St. Gregory on March 12th. Gregory is also honored outside the Catholic Church, including commemoration by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on March 12.

Works

Gregory is the only Pope between the 5th and the 11th centuries whose correspondence and writings have survived enough to form a comprehensive corpus. "His character strikes us as an ambiguous and enigmatic one," Norman F. Cantor observed (Cantor, 1993, p. 157). "On the one hand he was an able and determined administrator, a skilled and clever diplomat, a leader of the greatest sophistication and vision; but on the other hand, he appears in his writings as a superstitious and credulous monk, hostile to learning, crudely limited as a theologian, and excessively devoted to saints, miracles and relics".

• Sermons (forty on the Gospels are recognized as authentic, twenty-two on Ezekiel, two on the Song of Songs)
• Dialogues, a collection of often fanciful narratives including a popular life of Saint Benedict
• Commentary on Job, frequently known even in English-language histories by its Latin title, Magna Moralia
• The Rule for Pastors, in which he contrasted the role of bishops as pastors of their flock with their position as nobles of the church: the definitive statement of the nature of the episcopal office
• Some 850 letters have survived from his Papal Register of letters. This collection serves as an invaluable primary source for these years.
• In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Gregory is credited with devising the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. It is celebrated on certain nights during Great Lent in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Iconography

In art Gregory is usually shown in full pontifical robes with the tiara and double cross, despite his actual habit of dress. Earlier depictions are more likely to show a monastic tonsure and plainer dress. It is recorded that he permitted his depiction with a square halo, then used for the living. ^[2] A dove is his attribute, from the well-known story recorded by his friend Peter the Deacon (Vita, xxviii), who tells that when the pope was dictating his homilies on Ezechiel a curtain was drawn between his secretary and himself. As, however, the pope remained silent for long periods at a time, the servant made a hole in the curtain and, looking through, beheld a dove seated upon Gregory's head with its beak between his lips. When the dove withdrew its beak the pope spoke and the secretary took down his words; but when he became silent the servant again applied his eye to the hole and saw the dove had replaced its beak between his lips.^[3]

This scene is shown as a version of the traditional Evangelist portrait (where the Evangelists' symbols are also sometimes shown dictating) from the 10th century onwards.^[4]

Usually the dove is shown whispering in Gregory's ear for a clearer composition. The example (above right) is from the studio of Carlo Saraceni or by a close follower, ca 1610. From the Giustiniani collection, the painting is conserved in the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome [2].

Trivia

Gregory was famous for his charity works. He had a hospital built next to his house on the Caelian Hill to host poor people for dinner, at his expense. He also built a monastery and several oratories on the site. Today, the namesake church of San Gregorio al Celio (largely rebuilt from the original edifices during the 17th-18th centuries) remembers his work. One of the three oratories annexed, the oratory of St. Silvia, is said to lie over the tomb of Gregory's mother.

A traditional procession is held on the feast of Saint Gregory, the first Wednesday after Easter in Żejtun Malta.

Famous quotes

• Non Angli, sed Angeli.("They are not Angles, but Angels.") said by Gregory when he first encountered blue-eyed, blond-haired English boys at a slave market, sparking his dispatching of St. Augustine to England to convert the English, according to Bede.

• Gregory himself wanted to go to England as a missionary. However, one day while praying about this and reading Sacred Scripture a locust landed upon his text. He shouted out locusta, Latin for locust, but reflecting on it he saw it as a sign from Heaven since the similar sounding loco sta means "stay in place (i.e. in Rome)."

• Pro cuius amore in eius eloquio nec mihi parco (For the love of it (referring back to uerbi = the Word = the Gospel, cf. Cod. Sang. 211 p. 193 col. 1, line 5), I do not spare myself from communicating it. (i.e. the Word = the Gospel), 'Homilies on Ezekiel', Bk 1.11.6 (cf. Cod. Sang. 211 p. 193 col. 2, lines 1-3).

References

1. ^ [Pope St. Gregory I http://historymedren.about.com/library/who/blwwgreg1.htm]
2. ^ http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11080b.htm
3. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia article - see links
4. ^ An early example is the dedication miniature from the a 11th century manuscript of St. Gregory's Moralia in Job (Bamberg, Staatsbibliothek, MS Msc. Bibl. 84). The miniature shows the scribe, Bebo of Seeon Abbey, presenting the manuscript to the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry II. In the upper left the author is seen writing the text under divine inspiration.[1]

Bibliography

The early vita of Gregory was written by John the Deacon.

• Norman F. Cantor. The Civilization of the Middles Ages New York: Harper, 1993.
• Cavadini, John, ed., Gregory the Great: A Symposium. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1995.
• Dudden, Frederick H., Gregory the Great. Longmans, Green, and Co., London, 1905.
• Markus, R.A.. Gregory the Great and His World. Cambridge: University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-521-58608-9
• Leyser, Conrad. Authority and Asceticism from Augustine to Gregory the Great. Clarendon Press, Oxford: 2000.
• Richards, Jeffrey, Consul of God. Routelege & Keatland Paul, London: 1980.
• Straw, Carole E., Gregory the Great: Perfection in Imperfection. University of California Press, Berkeley: 1988

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