Epistles of St. Gregory the Great
Pope St. Gregory the Great was born in Rome around the year 540 and served much of his early life in civil office. Around the age of 30, he retired from his public duties, joined the Benedictine Order and formed several monasteries for the order on his own properties.
After several years, he was ordained to the priesthood and began to move back into public life, but this time working for God. For a time, he served as one of the Pope's major assistants and later was later named to serve as the papal nuncio at Constantinople. After several years as legate, he was called back to Rome to become abbot. Around the age of 50 he was elected to the Papacy, consecrated the 64th pope, and ruled for 14 years.
During his reign, Gregory pushed for many reforms and evangelization. Gregory removed unworthy priests from parishes, forbade taking money for certain services, and spent much of the papal treasury to ransom prisoners of the Lombards, care for persecuted Jews and aid the sick and dying. Gregory is also responsible for reforming the liturgy and strengthening support for moral and theological doctrine. Pushing for the conversion of England, Gregory sent more than 40 monks from his own monastery to evangelize there. These monks, who included St. Augustine of Canterbury, were successful in converting much of Anglo-Saxon England.
Gregory died March 12, 604 and is considered one of the four great doctors of the church. He is the patron saint of music and traditionally is one who coined the phrase saying that the pope is the "servant of the servants of God."
Epistles of St. Gregory the Great