Voices from the Past: Part 2 - Gregory the Great

I - Biography

Gregory the Great lived from 540 to 604 C.E., about 500 years after the crucifixion of Christ. Gregory was from Roman aristocracy, very well educated, and was projected for success in the world of secular business. Gregory went from secular administration as a prefect of the city (high secular office) to monkhood after he felt the loss of his father. As much as he enjoyed the solitude of monkhood, he felt called to ministry in a capacity where he could care for others in more direct ways. This brought him to the position of deacon, papal ambassador, and eventually he became the first monk pope after the death of Pope Pelagius II. Gregory felt that his election to the papacy was most unnatural, and he sought to decline his election. However, he received opposition from many. A friend and Bishop named John opposed Gregory’s desire to decline the Papal seat. In his attempts to justify his argument against taking the papal seat, he used what many consider to be his magnum opus, his book Book of Pastoral Rule. In 590, Gregory became the 64th Pope.

II - Gregory in Historical Context

Gregory’s time was one of particular turmoil. He was born shortly after the fall of Rome, which left a sort of power vacuum with considerable political instability. Combined with this, famine the Bubonic plague also weakened Italy, where Gregory was born. Taking advantage of this weakness, a growing tribe from the Germany area called the Lombards invaded when Gregory was in his late 20s. This contributed to decades of war following. This time of great turbulence translated into the church realm. Those in positions of power within the church often abused their power or neglected their responsibilities and the church was involved heavily as a social and political engine to weigh in on the tumultuous times. Gregory influenced the leaders of the church significantly for the better. For instance, Gregory leveraged the massive amount of land controlled by the church to feed people for free during a time of famine, rather than selling the goods to generate income for the church.

Always purported to be a man of integrity and earnest, Gregory published the Book of Pastoral Rule, which developed leadership ideals and ethics for those within the church. Much of what Gregory wrote then had a phenomenal ability to dial in on the human nature factor, and he encouraged leaders to “not take on the office of governing [if they] do not fulfil in their way of life what they have learned by study.” (From his Book of Pastoral Rule) This sentiment may echo commonalities to you from the popular trope, “practice what you preach.”

III - More on Gregory’s Book of Pastoral Rule.

The book is divided into four sections in which Gregory delineates upon the most important elements in his mind for a clergy person to understand.

Part I: Gregory talks about the spiritual burdens of leadership and standards for those in pastoral roles. He writes, “The heaviest burden of the pastoral office is that the leader is distracted by external affairs so that the mind loses concentration, forgoes self-examination, and soon falls into sin.” Pope Gregory held a much higher standard for those in the church from a moral and ethical point of view.

Part II: Gregory writes on the pastor’s life and conduct and the need for balancing action and contemplation. Gregory’s values are very reminiscent of 1&2 Timothy and Titus in encouraging exemplary spirituality and morality in the clergy. As Pope, Gregory made monasticism cool and encouraged its ubiquitous implementation in the Church. He spread monasticism as a common practice and sent monks to establish many of the original Abbeys in England. He promoted asceticism, which is the practice of having very few comforts or belongings as a way to connect ourselves with God, trusting in His provision, and focusing our energy towards the spiritual rather than the physical. He promoted ascetic ideals for all clergy, not just the monkhood, and viewed asceticism as helpful in remaining focused and humble. Gregory allegorically interpreted Aaronic priestly vestments to represent that exemplary character which clergy must retain.

In the book Christian Spirituality: The Classics which is listed in the resources below, the author writes that. “Gregory’s vision of pastoral ministry assumes an intimate personal relationship between pastor and people. Pastors must behave in such a way that the people willingly disclose their secrets.” Gregory also promoted physical care as well as spiritual care to be central to the Church's mission (James 2:16). Service in every fundamental way was integral in being clergy to Gregory. He also promoted that pastors “should not desire to please others, but should focus on what ought to please them.” (Christian Spirituality: The Classics, page 79).

Part III: Gregory focuses on how to preach to different people and meeting the audience where they are at. He gives a presentation of the dyads: the healthy/sick, women/men, young/old, rich/poor….etc. Different kinds of sinners also matter to Gregory and alter how the pastor should meet them with the Gospel. Gregory projected the common view of women as the weaker sex and their responsibilities in faith should resemble that. For Gregory, the main goal is to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” He is deeply in tune and focused on the dangers of self-deception. This leads into his last section.

Part IV: Clergy must avoid pride and meditate on their own awfulness. Gregory warns against pastors being led astray by pride or the need to please. He promotes self-examination and reflection on sinful human nature as a helpful mitigation. For Gregory, solitude was a necessary tool and was likely one of the reasons he promoted monasticism so much. Solitude helps us develop self-reflection and to recognize what might not be right within us.

IV - Resources I used and for your further study.

Gregory’s Book on Pastoral Rule https://www.google.com/books/edition/Pastoral_Care/IUQNAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover

The book The Great Emergence by Phyllis Tickle

Phyllis has a section on Gregory and her thoughts on how his influence provided a season of reformation for the Church through his monasticism movement. It is a very interesting and easy to read book.

The book Christian Spirituality: The Classics, edited by Arthur Holder.

This book is very well done and can be a slow read, but it is very informative and well organized. It has information on many of the important Christian authors throughout the ages.

An Encyclopaedia Britannica article: https://www.britannica.com/biography/St-Gregory-the-Great

The website https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=54 provides a great, readable overview.

Here are two good, quick overviews on Gregory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZMH1nHSO7U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW_t3tdZ_dk