History notes for last week

Servus Servorum Dei

Gregory bridged the world between Ambrose and Augustine and their contemporaries and the world of the Medieval successors. Augustine worked out what it mean to be a Christian in a pagan culture. Gregory worked out what it meant to be a Christian in a Christian culture. It comes down to what you truly believe, how your faith is actively worked out in your life. For the strength and integrity of the church, as well as the strength and integrity of the souls under his pastoral care, Gregory knew there should be guidelines so people could know and see how we should advance in a biblical model of what it means to be truly a Christian in a culture in which it was expected to be so.

In 542 AD, there were a great many number of plagues and famines that swept across the Roman Empire. It is said that 1/3 of the population died during that time. Also, because of the weakness of the Empire, many different barbarians came and invaded. Because of this, many pagan beliefs had to be blocked...a work done by great defenders of the true faith. You can never ever take peace and security for granted. Justinian found this out when his lands became targets from warring tribes. Previously, he had tried to re-conquer the Vandals in North Africa, but failed. At the time of the famines and pestilence, there was inflation and low-production. It wasn't long after this that the people began to flee to Constantinople in the East. There, they all learned that there was no such thing as a leisure class any longer. This was definitely not a stable time for the Empire as a whole.

There is no precise date when Gregory the Great was born, but it is said to have been sometime between 540 and 550 AD. When Gregory was young, he attended a school set up by his uncle. He was very well educated in grammar, dialectic, rhetoric, natural science, history, mathematics and music. It is also rumored that he studied some in law. Later on, he was elected the Prefect of the City.

In this position, he had control of the city and jurisdiction as well as authority over many working and political groups. He was known for his great governing skills. He was, however, involved with many worldly affairs and was concerned over it. He realized that true charity had to come from a true intention and a heart founded within God. Outwardly, things were doing just fine, but inwardly, he was lacking and he knew it. He had a dramatic conversion, much like Augustine or Ambrose. He turned all his estates into monasteries, especially his largest one on Caelian Hill (one of the seven hills of Rome) which he named St. Andrews. It was already filled with a great deal of classical art. All his money was turned over to the Church to distribute to the monks for food and provisions.

You can't just go to church, get married in the church, live as such, and claim to be a Christian, yet act and speak otherwise. Both the objective and subjective must be in place for true Christianity within your life.

Pope Benedict forced him to be a deacon of Rome in 578 AD. A few years later, the Lombards began to invade once again. Gregory was sent to the to court and church of byzantium to help hold it all together and to be an advisor to the rulers there. He hated it there because it was such a worldly court, filled with things that weren't uplifting to a spiritual life such as he'd been used to. He greatly missed his quiet and peaceful monastery. He did, however, try to keep as much of a monastic life as could be possibly be lead in such a place as that. The emperor and empress were taking over as much of the ecclesiastical realm as was possible. This began a State and Church conflict. Gregory kept several monks with him from St. Andrews in order to help him remain grounded while being surrounded by an evil world without the luxury of a monastery. He wrote a book while there called "Moralia" speaking to this subject.

When he got back to his monastery sometime in 586-589, instead of his solitude that he had hoped for, he was proclaimed the Abbot of St. Andrews. This was not what he had wanted. He was appalled by the amount of worldliness that had crept into his monastery while he was away. One example of this was a monk who confessed on his deathbed that he had hidden three gold coins under his bed. To us, it would seem like nothing, but to the monks, who had to take a vow of poverty, it meant a great deal. He died friendless and alone and was thrown in a dung heap along with his coins. This shows how much of a big deal it was to them for the monks not to have buried him in the monasteries cemetery. It was considered a huge crime.

In 589, many floods and plagues began again. The water from the floods swept into the granaries for the monks. Because of this, famine became an issue also. Along with all the horrible things that were happening, the Pope died. Rome was without a protector. All eyes turned to Gregory. The Clergy chose Gregory to be Pope. He did not want to take that role and made it very obvious. He wrote a letter to Marius who was in charge of the role of Pope. At the same time, the people wrote to Marius asking him to overlook Gregory's letter and to make him Pope anyways. In 590, it became official that he was Pope.

He served for 14 years. At one point when there was plagues and famines, and he had all the people divid into groups and they would march around the city with candles and pray to God for their sins. During the time that they marched all around the city, 80 people dropped dead because of the plague. Finally, it all ended. What Gregory told the people to rouse them was, "Let us storm the gates of heaven with prayers for forgiveness and for relief." They believed that all the bad things that happened because of their sinfulness.

They believed that any flood, famine, invasion, pestilence, or death was because of something wrong they did. They took responsibility for their actions. Any good thing was a blessing from God. This is taking to a very extreme side. It doesn't need to be quiet that exaggerated, but it is a good mindset to get into.

There was a story about St. Gregory the Great that shows forth his great missionary skills. He was walking through the market place and saw some boys put up for auction as slaves. When he asked who they were and was told that they were Angles, he said that they were not that but rather Angels. He asked where they came from and once hearing that, he asked to send missionaries to that country to convert them to Christianity. He even went himself, but was dragged back by the people of his monastery.

Gregory the Great along with Augustine and Ambrose are said to be the three most influential men of their times.