St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church

St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor:
540-604 A.D.

Feast day, September 3

Birth, family, education, and early public office


St. Gregory was born of a wealthy patrician, Gordianus, at a time when the Roman Empire was disintegrating. His family, however, owned large estates in Sicily, as well as a magnificent home on the Caelian Hill in Rome. Besides wealth, St. Gregory's family was also known for its piety - having already given to the Church two sixth-century popes - Felix III and Agapitus I.


Amid the turmoil in Rome, Gregory still received a good education. He studied law and prepared to follow his father into public service. Upon reaching thirty years of age, he was appointed as Prefect of Rome, the highest civil office in the city. When his father passed away and his mother then retired to a convent, St. Gregory inherited a vast amount of riches.

Sought a higher calling to serve God

For five years, Gregory served as Prefect of the city. He however decided to abandon his career and devote himself to the service of God. He went to Sicily where he turned the estates of his family into six monasteries. And then he returned to Rome, making his own home into a Benedictine monastery - under the patronage of St. Andrew, and under the spiritual leadership of Valentius. He then lived the life of a monk for three or four years before Pope Pelagius II appointed him a deacon in 578 A.D. - forcing St. Gregory to live a more active life outside his monastery. The Pope then sent St. Gregory as ambassador to the emperor's court in Constantinople.

Elected to the papacy

St. Gregory was recalled to Rome around 586 A.D., and returned to his monastery where he was then elected abbot. In 590 A.D., a terrible plague hit Rome, and among its victims was the pope. St. Gregory was immediately and unanimously voted and chosen to be pope. Gregory however tried to run away from the city, but he was forcibly carried to the Basilica of St. Peter, where he was consecrated to the papacy on September 3, 590 A.D. Gregory was about fifty years old at the time and he was the first monk to be elected pope.

Gregory's work as Pope

As the pope, St. Gregory restored ecclesiastical discipline, removed unworthy clerics from office, abolished clerical fees for burials and ordinations, and was prodigious in his charities. He also administered papal properties wisely and justly; ransomed captives from the Lombards; protected Jews from unjust coercion; and fed the victims of a famine. As pope, Gregory also was a writer - writing a work called Regula Pastoralis, which addresses the office of a bishop. This work was an immediate success, and for hundreds of years provided the guidance for the pastoral mission of a bishop.

A missionary work dear to his papacy

Of all his work as pope, nothing was more dear to St. Gregory than the conversion of England. He turned to his own monastery and chose a band of forty monks, under the leadership of the man that was to become St. Augustine of Canterbury. St. Gregory then instructed the monks to purify rather than to destroy pagan temples and customs, and to convert pagan rites and festivals into Christian feasts. Although St. Augustine of Canterbury passed away eight years after this mission to convert England, the work he and the monks began eventually bore fruit.

Last years, sickness and death

Throughout his life, St. Gregory practiced much asceticism. His health was always precarious. And he suffered from gastric disorders, probably because of the excessive fasts he made. During the last years of his life, he was emaciated almost in the likeness of a skeleton. He suffered also from gout and was unable to walk at the time of his death. He died on March 12, 604 A.D. and was buried in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Writings and liturgical works

St. Gregory wrote treatises, notably his Dialogues - a collection of visions, prophecies, miracles, and lives of Italian saints. He also wrote the Liber regulae pastoralis - on the duties of a bishop, plus hundreds of sermons and letters. The custom of saying thirty successive Masses for a dead person goes back to him and bears his name. And not to forget also is the famous Gregorian Chant that is attributed to him.

Doctor of the Church

St. Gregory is the last of the traditional Latin Doctors of the Church. Despite his prestige and status during his lifetime, St. Gregory called himself Servus Servorum Dei - Servant of the Servants of God - a title still retained by his successors to this day, fourteen centuries later. Because of St. Gregory's tireless works and apostolates, he merited the title "The Great". He was one of the two popes who were titled "The Great", the other being St. Leo the Great.

References of this article

• Dictionary of Saints, by John J. Delaney


• The Doctors of the Church vol 1, by John F. Fink


• A Year With the Saints, by Don Bosco Press, Inc.


• Saints for Our Time, by Ransom

Feasts of Saints Celebrated in the Month of September

on September 1: Giles, abbot; Verena, virgin; Lupus or Leu, bishop; Fiacre; Sebbe; Drithelm; Beatrice de Silva Meneses, virgin

on September 2: Antoninus of Apamea, martyr; Castor, bishop; Agricolus, bishop; William of Roskilde, bishop; Brocard

Gregory (died 12 March 604 A.D.): prefect of Rome; O.S.B.; papal legate to Constantinople; as pope, noted for liturgical reform and chant; sent missionaries to England; wrote on many moral and theological subjects (e.g., his "Moralia" on Job, Dialogues and Pastoral Rule"); one of the four great doctors of the Latin Church; called himself the "servus servorum Dei"; patron saint of music. (September 3)

also on September 3: Phoebe; Macanisius, bishop; Simeon Stylites the Younger; Remaclus, bishop; Aigulf, martyr; Hildelitha, virgin; Cuthburga, widow

on September 4: Marcellus and Valerian, martyrs; Marinus; Boniface I, pope; Ultan of Ardbraccan, bishop; Ida of Herzfeld, widow; Rosalia, virgin; Rose of Viterbo, virgin

on September 5: Lawrence of Justinian, bishop and confessor; Bertinus, abbot

on September 6: Donatian, Laetus and Companions, bishop and martyrs; Eleutherius, abbot; Chainoaldes or Cagnoald, bishop; Bega or Bee, virgin

on September 7: Regina or Reine, virgin and martyr; Sozon, martyr; Grimonia, virgin and martyr; John of Nicomedia, martyr; Anastasius the Fuller, martyr; Cloud or Clodoald; Alcmund and Tilbert, bishops

on September 8: Birth of Mary; Hadrian, Natalia, martyrs; Eusebius, Nestabus, Zeno, and Nestor, martyrs; Disibod; Sergius I, pope; Corbinian, bishop

Peter Claver: was a Jesuit missionary of the sixteenth century who ministered to African slaves as they arrived in the South American seaport of Cartagena. Enduring the derision of the slave traders, he fed the hungry, cared for the sick and dying, preached the Gospel and baptized converts for over forty years.
(September 9)

also on September 9: Gorgonius; Isaac or Sahak I, bishop; Ciarsa or Kieran, abbot; Audomarus or Omer, bishop; Bettelin

on September 10: Nicolas of Tolentino, confessor; Nemesian and Companions, martyrs; Menodora, Metrodora, and Nymphodora, virgin and martyrs; Pulcheria, virgin; Finnian of Moville, bishop; Salvius of Albi, bishop; Theobard, bishop; Aubert, bishop; Ambrose Barlow, priest and martyr

on September 11: Protus and Hyacinth, martyrs; Theodora of Alexandria; Paphnutius the Great, bishop; Patiens of Lyons, bishop; Deiniol, bishop; Peter of Chavanon; Bodo, bishop

on September 12: Ailbhe, bishop; Eanswida, virgin; Guy of Anderlecht

John Chrysostom (died 14 Sept. 407 A.D.): ascetic; became bishop of Constantinople (397 A.D.); outstanding preacher (thus surnamed "golden mouthed"); defended the poor; sought reform of the clergy; twice exiled due to royal opposition; authored ascetical, apologetic, and polemical treatises as well as letters; one of the four great doctors of the Eastern Church; patron of preachers and Istanbul (Constantinople). (September 13)

also on September 13: Maurilius, bishop; Eulogius of Alexandria, bishop; Amatus, abbot; Amatus, bishop

on September 14: Triumph of the Holy Cross; Maternus, bishop; Notburga, virgin

on September 15: Our Lady of Sorrows; Nicomedes, martyr; Nicetas the Goth, martyr; Aichardus or Archard, abbot; Mirin; Catherine of Genoa, widow

Cornelius (died 253 A.D.): in exile in Civitavecchia; opposed Novatian and rigorist in the lapsi controversy; buried in the cemetery of Callixtus. (September 16)

Cyprian decapitated 14 September 258 A.D. under Valerian; ally of Cornelius; bishop of Carthage; wrote On the Unity of the Catholic Church; the rebaptism of heretics and schismatics; first African bishop to be martyred; patron of North Africa and Algeria; both mentioned in the Roman Canon. (September 16)

also on September 16: Euphemia, Lucy and Gemimianus, martyrs; Abundius, Abundantius, and Companions, martyrs; Ninian, bishop; Ludmila, martyr; Edith of Wilton, virgin; John Macias, religious

Robert Bellarmine (died 1621 A.D.): Tuscan; brilliant S.J. scholar, preacher, writer and systematic apologist of the Counter Reformation; most noted for his Catechism and Disputationes de Controversiis Christianae Fidei; involved in Galileo affair; cardinal archbishop of Capua; patron of catechists and catechumens. (September 17)

also on September 17: Stigmata of Francis; Socrates and Stephen, martyrs; Satyrus; Lambert of Maestricht, bishop and martyr; Columba, virgin and martyr; Hildegard, virgin; Peter Arbues, martyr; Francis of Camporosso

on September 18: Joseph of Cupertino, confessor; Ferreolus, martyr; Methodius of Olympus, bishop and martyr; Richardis, widow; Ferreolus of Limoges, bishop

Januarius (died 305 A.D.): according to his legend, thrown to bears at Pozzuolo under Diocletian; bishop of Benevento; as early as 1389 A.D., his blood has liquefied on this and other days each year; patron of Naples. (September 19)

also on September 19: Peleus and Companions, martyrs; Sequanus or Seine, abbot; Goericus or Abbo, bishop; Theodore of Tarsus, bishop; Mary of Cerevellon, virgin; Theodore, David, and Constantine; Emily de Rodat, virgin; Alonso de Orozco

Andrew Kim Taegon was born in Seoul, Korea to converts to the faith. His father was a martyr. Baptized at the age of 15, he traveled 1300 miles to the nearest seminary in South China and was ordained Korea's first native priest. In 1846 A.D. he was tortured and beheaded along with his lay associates, St. Paul Chong Hasang. Between 1839 and 1867 A.D., 113 martyrs gave their lives for the faith in Korea. (September 20)

also on September 20: Vincent Madelgarius, abbot; Martyrs of Korea

on September 21: Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist; Maura of Troyes, virgin; Michael of Chernigov and Theodore, martyrs

on September 22: Thomas of Villanova, bishop; Maurice and Companions, martyrs; Phocas the Gardener, martyr; Felix III (IV), pope; Salaberga, widow; Emmeramus, bishop

Padre Pio of Pietrelcina was born in 1887 A.D. in the small Italian village in Pietrelcina. He joined the Capuchin Friars at the age of sixteen and was ordained a priest seven years later. For forty years at the monastery of San Stefano Rotundo he was a much sought after spiritual advisor, confessor and intercessor whose life was devoted to the Eucharist and prayer. Yet such notoriety, he would often say "I only want to be a poor friar who prays." (September 23)

also on September 23: Adamnan, abbot; Martha of Persia, virgin and martyr

on September 24: Our Lady of Ransom; Geremarus or Germer, abbot; Gerard of Canaad, bishop and martyr; Pacifico of San Severino

on September 25: Firminus, bishop and martyr; Cadoc, abbot; Aunacharius or Aunaire, bishop; Finbar, bishop; Coelfrid, abbot; Albert of Jerusalem, bishop; Sergius of Radonezh, abbot; Vincent Strambi, bishop

Cosmas and Damian (died c. 300 A.D.): at Cyrrhus in Syria; brother physicians known as ("moneyless ones") for their gratuitous care of the sick; mentioned in the Roman Canon; patrons of physicians, surgeons, druggists, barbers and the blind. (September 26)

also on September 26: Colman of Lann Elo, abbot; John of Meda; Nilus of Rossano, abbot; Therese Coudere (Marie Victoire Couderc), virgin

Vincent de Paul (died 1260 A.D.): in Paris; born in Pouy; renewed the clergy and defended the poor and the abandoned; founded (1625 A.D.) the Congregation of the Missions (Vincentians), today numbering some 4,050 members; mission preachers and seminary educators; with St. Louise de Marillac, founded the Daughters of Charity; preached against Jansenism; patron of charities, of hospitals and prisoners, and of the Malagasy Republic (Madagascar). (September 27)

also on September 27: Elzear

on September 28: Wenceslaus, martyr; Exsuperius, bishop; Eustochium, virgin; Faustus of Riez, bishop; Annemund, bishop; Lioba, virgin

Sts. Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael: These biblical messengers signify God's transcendence and loving care: Michael (meaning "Who is like God?"), Gabriel ("God's Strength") and Raphael ("God's Remedy"); Michael: patron of security forces and of the sick; Gabriel: of telecommunications and postal service; Raphael: of travelers and the blind. (September 29)

also on September 29: Rhipsime, Gaiana, and Companions, virgins and martyrs; Theodota of Philippolis, martyr

Jerome (died 420): at Bethlehem; from Dalmatia; devoted
monk and ascetic; wrote numerous commentaries on the Bible and authored Latin ("Vulgate") translation of the Bible; one of the four great doctors of the Latin Church; patron of scripture scholars. (September 30)

also on September 30: Gregory the Illuminator, bishop; Honorius of Canterbury, bishop; Simon and Crepy

Memorial of Saints (August 28)

St. Augustine of Hippo had such a great influence in Catholic faith and history, that most of the quotations in the Catechism are from his writings. (Second to him in the Catechism are from the writings of St. Thomas of Aquinas). Due to his popularity, many are familiar with his biography. Aside from his conversion experience written well in his book, "The Confessions", he then led a very exemplary life, pastoring his faithful with the utmost compassion and influencing Catholicism with his writings. St. Augustine also organized the clergy in a common life, and wrote a famous rule for religious women (died ca. 430 A.D.).

St. Hermes was a resident of Rome. He lived in the second century - a time when Christian martyrdom abounded with the likes of St. Ignatius of Antioch and St. Justin Martyr. Because of his faith in Christ, St. Hermes was imprisoned like many other Christians of his time. It was a judge named Aurelian who had Hermes arrested and executed for his Christian faith (died ca. 120 A.D.).

St. Julian of Brioude was a Christian army officer of Rome before he retired to Auvergne in France. The governor of Vienne at that time launched a persecution of Christians. Because of Julian's Christian faith, he had to surrender to the authorities of the State. He was sentenced to death and beheaded for his faith in Christ (died ca. 304 A.D.).

St. Alexander was elected patriarch of Constantinople when he was seventy-three years old. Known for his wisdom and holiness, he attended the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. - joining the other Council Fathers who were in opposition to Arianism. In 336 A.D., Arius, leader of the Arianism movement, was about to enter into the patriarchate of Alexander. St. Alexander prayed that Arius' movement may not influence his patriarchate. Arius died before he was able to enter Constantinople (died ca. 340 A.D.).

St. John III was a lawyer before he was ordained. Known for his scholarly abilities, he acted as legate for the patriarch of Constantinople. He edited a lot of canons of ecclesiastical law and his revisions developed into the Nomokanon - a compendium of Eastern Church law. St. John III was also appointed as Patriarch of Constantinople in 565 A.D. (died ca. 577 A.D.).

St. Paul IV, like St. Alexander and St. John III, became patriarch of Constantinople. He began to administer the patriarchate in 780 A.D. Paul IV requested the restoration of icons when the movement towards iconoclasm was threatening the reverence due to icons. He moved and retired to Florus monastery in 784 A.D. and from there pleaded that a Council be convoked to condemn iconoclasm. The Council was convoked three years after his death (died ca. 784 A.D.).

St. Moses the Black was initially a servant in the household of an Egyptian official. Because of his criminal behavior in that household, he was dismissed. He then became leader of a notorious band of outlaws that terrorized travelers in Egypt. But he was converted to the Christian faith. And tradition tells the story that when he was sought after because of a crime, he fled and hid among the hermits of the Skete Desert in Lower Egypt. He eventually joined the monks at Petra Monastery, lived as a hermit, and was ordained by Theophilus of Alexandria. When a band of marauding Berbers took siege of their monastery, St. Moses was killed when he refused to defend himself by force (died ca. 405 A.D.).

St. Edmund Arrowsmith was born into an English Catholic family at a time when England was persecuting Roman Catholicism. In 1605 A.D., Edmund left England and went to Douai to study for the priesthood. Ordained in 1612 A.D., he was sent for a mission to England the following year. Edmund ministered to the Catholics at Lancashire. In 1624 A.D., he joined the Jesuits. Because of the tension between Catholics and Anglicans in England, St. Edmund was arrested in 1628 A.D. He was convicted as a Catholic priest and was martyred for his faith. He is one of the Martyrs of England and Wales (died ca. 1628 A.D.).

St. Joaqunia of Vedruña was married. When her husband died in 1816 A.D., she brought her children to Vich and became a Franciscan tertiary. In 1820 A.D., a Capuchin priest encouraged Joaquina to be a nun, but to have her own community - one devoted to the education of the young and the ministry of the sick. Thus, in 1826 A.D., the Carmelites of Charity was founded. The Order spread first to Spain and to France (died ca. 1854 A.D.).