Saint Gregory The Great, Just Right For the Medieval Ages.

Saint Gregory The Great,  a Medieval Pope,  a Missionary, Evangelist, Father of Christian Worship, the Apostle of England, Reformer and Doctor of the Church, a pope for such a times as those. The Medieval Ages were not the Wild, Wild, West. It was worse.

Today,  September 3rd, we remember the death anniversary of Saint Pope Gregory the Great  and on March 12th, we celebrate his feast day. Saint Pope Gregory is  patron saint of musicians, singers and teachers.

Saint Gregory was a Roman senator's son and 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, Gregory became one of the pope’s seven deacons, and also served six years in the East as papal representative in Constantinople. At the age of 50 he was elected pope by the clergy and people of Rome. Before becoming Pope, he challenged the theological views of Patriarch Eutychius of Constantinople before the emperor Tiberius II.


During his papacy, his administration greatly surpassed that of the emperors in improving the welfare of the people of Rome. He worked tirelessly to improve the spiritual lives of the faithful and to strengthen the authority of the papacy. He was also a strong advocate for monasticism, and is credited with helping to establish the Benedictine order.

Gregory also regained papal authority in Spain and France and sent missionaries to England, including Augustine of Canterbury and Paulinus of York, known as the Gregorian mission, to convert the then largely pagan Anglo-Saxons to Christianity and helping pave the way for the spread of Christianity in that country. He is often referred to as the "Apostle of England .  The realignment of barbarian allegiance to Rome from their Arian Christian alliances shaped medieval Europe. Gregory saw Franks, Lombards, and Visigoths align with Rome in religion. He also combated the Donatist heresy, popular particularly in North Africa at the time

In addition to his work as Pope, Gregory also made important contributions to the field of theology. He wrote several works on pastoral care and theology, which are still highly respected today. One of his most famous works is a collection of the lives and miracles of Italian saints called "Dialogues."

Throughout the Middle Ages, he was known as "the Father of Christian Worship" because of his exceptional efforts in revising the Roman worship of his day. His contributions to the development of the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, still in use in the Byzantine Rite, were so significant that he is generally recognized as its de facto author.





Saint Gregory promoted the use of the Gregorian Chant in the Church, which is named after him. He believed that the Divine Office should be sung with the same solemnity and dignity as the Mass. He also wrote that music should be used as a means of expressing religious devotion and that singing should be an important part of the liturgy. He also believed that singing should be used to teach the faith and to promote devotion among the faithful.