From Civil Office to the Monastic Life
Gregory's early career followed the path of the Roman aristocracy into which he was born. Educated in the classical disciplines of grammar, rhetoric, the sciences, literature, and law, he rose to the prefecture of Rome, the city's highest civil office, at about the age of thirty-three.
After his father's death, Gregory turned decisively from public life. He sold the family's substantial land holdings to assist the poor and converted his family villa on the Caelian Hill into a monastery dedicated to St. Andrew the Apostle. This embrace of monasticism shaped the rest of his life and ministry, even as the needs of the Church repeatedly called him back into active service.
Service in Constantinople and Election as Pope
In 579 Pope Pelagius II appointed Gregory as his apocrisiarius, or ambassador, to the imperial court in Constantinople, where he served until 586. He is reported to have disliked court life and never to have gained fluency in Greek. During this period he engaged in theological dispute with Patriarch Eutychius of Constantinople concerning the nature of the Resurrection.
When Pelagius II died of the plague then spreading through the city, Gregory was elected by acclamation to succeed him and was consecrated Bishop of Rome on September 3, 590. His papacy, which lasted until his death on March 12, 604, was marked by vigorous administration: he negotiated peace with the Lombards who were besieging Rome and reorganized the management of the Church's extensive estates to provide relief during famine and invasion.
Writings and the Epithet 'Dialogist'
Gregory is among the most prolific writers of the early medieval Church. His Dialogues, in four books, recount the lives, miracles, signs, and healings of holy men—mostly monastics—of sixth-century Italy, and teachings concerning the afterlife. This work, which earned him the epithet 'Dialogist' in the Orthodox tradition, remains a principal historical source for the life of St. Benedict of Nursia and his sister St. Scholastica.
His other major works include the Moralia in Job, the Homilies on Ezekiel, and the Pastoral Rule (Pastoral Care), which defined the responsibilities of bishops and served for many years as the prime manual for priests in the West. In the last thirteen years of his life he is also recorded to have written more than 850 letters.
Liturgical Legacy
In the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, St. Gregory is credited as the primary influence in the construction of the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, celebrated on weekdays during Great Lent, which bears his name; historians note, however, that his precise role in its development remains uncertain.
The mainstream form of Western plainchant, standardized in the late ninth century and known as Gregorian chant, was likewise attributed to him on account of his patronage of the ancient Western chant traditions.
Mission and Pastoral Care
Gregory is famous for sending the mission, often called the Gregorian mission, under St. Augustine of Canterbury to evangelize the pagan Anglo-Saxons of Britain.
As pope he reorganized the Church's charitable systems, managing extensive estates so that their revenues could relieve the poor and provide for the city during the upheavals of the Lombard invasions and recurring famine.
Relics & Shrines
Gregory was canonized by popular acclaim immediately after his death. His relics are enshrined in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. He is commemorated on March 12 in the Eastern Orthodox Church and on September 3 in the Latin Church.
