Gregory the Great

Gregory the Great was born at Rome about 540 A. D. He was at an early age made prætor of Rome by Emperor Justin II of Constantinople, but resigned this office and withdrew to one of the seven monasteries he had founded. “He lavished on the poor all his costly robes, his silk, his gold, his jewels, his furniture, and, not even assuming to himself the abbacy of his convent, but beginning with the lowest monastic duties, he devoted himself altogether to God.” It was while here that he one day saw some fair-haired Anglo-Saxon youths in the slave-market. When he was told they were Angles, he said: “Not Angles, but angels,” and was seized with a longing to Christianize their country. He set out, but was asked to return by Pope Benedict on account of the clamor over his departure. Pelagius II, Benedict's successor, sent Gregory to Constantinople as papal nuncio. He remained there for three years, writing his Moralia, and on his return to Rome was unanimously elected to succeed Pelagius, who had died of the plague. He was consecrated pope on Sept. 3, 590, and began an immediate reform in the organization and ritual of the Roman church, which is indebted to him for her complete ritual and chants. He also brought Britain and Spain within the pale of Christianity. He died on March 12, 604.

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