Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Castel Gandolfo (Agenzia Fides) - On Sunday September 3rd before reciting the midday Angelus prayer with people gathered at his Summer Residence, Pope Benedict XVI reflected on the “singular, almost unique figure” of Saint Gregory the Great (feast-day September 3rd), “as an example for the bishops of the Church and for public administrators: he was in fact first Prefect and then Bishop of Rome”. As an official of the empire Gregory “distinguished himself for administrative ability and moral integrity”, as he matured his vocation to the monastic life embraced in 574 following the death of his father. “The Benedictine Rule became the foundation of his existence- the Holy Father recalled - Even when he was sent by the Pope as his representative to the Emperor of the East, he maintained a monastic style of life, simple and poor”.
A close co-worker of Pope Pelagius II, after the death of the latter Gregory was acclaimed as his successor and after leaving unwillingly the cloister “devoted himself to the community, aware that he was doing his duty and that he was simply a servant of the servants of God” the Pope said recalling the main principles expressed in Gregory’s “pastoral Rule”. “With prophetic farsightedness - the Holy Father continued -, Gregory sensed that a new civilisation was emerging from the encounter between the legacy of Rome and the so-called ‘barbarian”, thanks to Christianity’s power of unification and moral elevation. Monasticism revealed itself as a treasure not only for the Church, but for the whole of society.”
Lastly Pope Benedict XVI recalled the great moral fibre of St Gregory the Great, his intense pastoral and civil activity and his great legacy: “He left a vast epistolary, magnificent homilies, a famous comment on the Book of Job and works on the life of Saint Benedict, and numerous famous liturgical texts for the reform of liturgical Chant, which took his name “Gregorian". But the most famous work is undoubtedly his Pastoral Rule, which for the clergy had the same importance as the Rule of Saint Benedict for the monks of the Middle Ages. The life of the shepherd of souls must be a balanced combination of contemplation and activity, fired by love which "reaches the highest peaks when it tends with loving mercy to the sufferings of others. The ability to show concern for the suffering of others is the measure of ability to reach upwards" (II, 5) . This teaching, ever relevant, inspired the Fathers of Vatican II as they outlined the image of the Shepherd in our day. Let us pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary to intercede that the example and teaching of Saint Gregory the Great may be followed by the bishops and clergy of the Church and by those responsible for civil institutions.” (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 4/9/2006 - righe 30, parole 436)
