Monday, March 12, 2012

St Gregory the Great, Class II (March 12)



St Gregory dispatches St Augustine and his monks to England
 From the martyrology:

"At Rome, St. Gregory, pope and eminent doctor of the Church, who on account of his illustrious deeds and the conversion of the English to the faith of Christ, was surnamed the Great, and called the Apostle of England."

St Gregory I the Great, was born in 540, and was pope between 590 and 604.

He became a monk after meeting refugees from St Benedict's Monte Cassino, who had fled to Rome after the destruction of the monastery, and established a monastery in his home on the Caelian in Rome. 

He was sent as Ambassador to Constantinople by Pope Pelagius II in 579, and engaged there in the always vigorous theological disputes of the Eastern Church! 

As Pope he is credited with the revision of the liturgy (hence the naming of the chant for him), the conversion of the English and many important writings. 

The most important of his works from a Benedictine perspective though, is Book II of his Dialogues, which is the Life of St Benedict, which you can read more about by clicking here.

And for more on the life of the saint himself, go here.

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