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Gregory I, Saint (c. 540–604 CE)

Roman Catholic pope

Gregory I, pope from 590 to 604 CE, was distinguished for both his spiritual and temporal leadership and is credited with the conversion of England.

Early Life

Gregory came from a wealthy and aristocratic background. He was a patrician and at age thirty became prefect of Rome, the highest civil office in the city. Gregory's father was Gordianus, who owned a number of properties, including large estates in Sicily and a mansion on the Caelian Hill in the city of Rome. Similarly, Gregory's mother Silvia came from a patrician family. Gregory's mother and two of his paternal aunts have been named saints.

The years of Gregory's youth were turbulent. The Goths captured Rome a number of times between 546 and 552. Some writers have attributed Gregory's tinge of sadness and his expectation of a speedy end of the world to these early experiences. Certainly he was a quick student who, according to contemporary accounts, had no peer in grammar, rhetoric, and dialectic. He also appears to have studied law. His home provided him with a profound religious education. His education and innate skills prepared him for a public career in which after holding a number of subordinate offices he rose to the position of prefect of the city of Rome.

Around 575, he felt a vocation to the monastic life. He converted his home to a monastery. This and other houses he owned became Benedictine convents. His Sicilian estates, for example, were used to establish six monasteries. His Caelian Hill home became Saint Andrew's monastery, where he took the cowl of the Benedictine monk. In 578, he became a Benedictine abbot and a deacon of Rome. He served as an ambassador at Constantinople from 579 to around 586. After that he became Pope Pelagius II's chief adviser.

Gregory intended to go as a missionary to England, but he was recalled to Rome. There the Roman people elected him pope by acclamation. He reluctantly accepted his election. Not only did he feel spiritually unworthy, he also suffered from chronic poor health.

Papacy

The period just before Gregory became pope was one of great disasters. In 589, for example, there were great floods. The Tiber overflowed, destroying buildings including church granaries. Pestilence accompanied the floods. Economic disaster followed. Rome took on the appearance of a ghost town.

Pelagius II died in February 590. At that time, the clergy and people of Rome chose the pope, the bishop of Rome. Gregory, abbot of Saint Andrew's and adviser to Pelagius, was their choice. Gregory refused the honor, preferring his cloister. He asked the emperor not to confirm his election, but the letter never reached the emperor in Constantinople because the prefect of Rome suppressed it.

Gregory filled the duties of pope while expecting the emperor to refuse to confirm his election. He led a procession that started at each of the seven regions of Rome and joined at the Basilica of the Blessed Virgin. The purpose of the procession was to beg relief from the plague. According to legend the archangel Michael was seen at the tomb of Hadrian, now called Sant'Angelo, sheathing his sword to show that the plague was over.

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