Saints

St Gregory the Great

03 Sep 2024 2019

This patrician prefect of Rome is counted among the doctors and Fathers of the Church.

After his father’s death, he gave family estates to the church, founding seven monasteries, including the one he joined in his family home in Rome.

Following ordination, he served as papal nuncio in Constantinople, 579-586, then was an abbot in Rome until 590, when he became the first monk elected pope.

Gregory I reformed the clergy, sent missionaries to England, promoted monasticism and chant, wrote prolifically, and assumed civic duties in Rome in the face of natural disasters and the warring Lombards.

He is a patron saint of choirboys, musicians, singers and England.

Text: Catholic News Service
Image: Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain