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The patron of
our monastery, St Gregory, was born in Rome in
540. He is shown in the bottom left of the picture.
The son of a noble senator, he entered the service
of the city as a young man. In 573 he sold his
properties and founded six monasteries in Sicily,
a seventh in Rome, gave generously to the poor
and then entered the monastery of St Andrew on
the Caelian Hill.
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Pope
Benedict I called him out of the monastery to become
one of the seven deacons of Rome, and his successor,
Pope Pelagius II, made him his ambassador to the
Emperor in Constantinople. Six years later, he
returned to Rome to become abbot of St Andrew's.
Rome was hit by several plagues at that time, one
of them in 590, which killed the Pope. Gregory
was elected in his place.
He regretted having to leave the peace of his monastery,
but he began a papacy of intense activity. In Rome
he was effectively responsible for the government
of the city. He immediately faced a series of crises:
floods, famine, plague, as well as the invasion of
Italy by Lombard barbarians.
But his main work was the pastoral care of the Church.
This included the need to convert the barbarians
who had invaded Italy. It also included his sending
missionaries to the Saxon kingdoms of England.
Legend has it that he wanted to lead a group of missionaries
to England himself, which originated when he saw
a group of fair-haired young men being sold as slaves
in the Roman market. He asked where they came from,
and being told that they were Angles, he replied, "Not
Angles, but Angels".
When the opportunity came, he had to entrust it to
others. He chose the men himself, and sent Augustine
(later of Canterbury) from his own monastery of St
Andrew in Rome to lead a group of monks to the Britain
in 597. Because of this Gregory has been given the
title "Apostle of the English". That is
why the first monks of our community looked to him
as the patron of their efforts to serve the Church
in England and Wales.
Gregory is a good role model too. He was a devoted
monk to the end of his life. He always believed in
the primacy of prayer, but he also believed that
contemplation was a necessary basis for Christian
action, in whatever sphere a person may be called
to serve Christ.
Gregory was also a scholar and prolific writer, writing
commentaries on biblical books, especially the commentary
on Job and the Homilies on Ezekiel, a series of sermons
on prayer. He composed the life of St Benedict (the
centre-piece of an account of saints in Italy at
that time) and also a manual for the use of bishops
entitled On Pastoral Care. He is associated with
the composition of plainchant, also known as Gregorian
chant. Legend has it that the Holy Spirit dictated
the words and music for the introit for the first
Sunday of Advent into his ear. In paintings he is
generally illustrated with a dove whispering into
his ear!
He died in 604. May he continue to pray for us!
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