"From the day he became Pope, St Gregory applied himself vigorously to the duties of the Church, appointing overseers to look after its secular affairs so he could devote himself to the celebration of Holy Mass where his homilies on the Gospel and the Eucharist became the talk of Rome. ...
An excerpt of Homily 37:
'Not long ago it happened that a man was taken prisoner and carried far away. Now after he had been a long time kept in the prison without his wife knowing anything about it, she believed him to be dead, and caused every week, on certain days, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass to be offered for him. After a long time had elapsed the man returned home, and related to his astonished wife that on certain days of the week the chains that bound him became loose; in this way he succeeded at length in making his escape. Now when his wife inquired on which days of the week this wonder took place, she discovered that the days on which his chains became loose were those upon which the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was offered for him.'
Because he so loved the solemn celebration of the Eucharist, St Gregory devoted himself to compiling the Antiphonary - containing the chants of the Church used during the liturgy (today called by his name, Gregorian Chant) - and setting up the foundation for the Schola Cantorum, Rome's famous training school for choristers.
St Gregory never rested and wore himself down almost to a skeleton. Even as he lay dying, he directed the affairs of the Church and continued his spiritual writing."
Excerpt from My Daily Eucharist (Joan Carter McHugh)
Pope St Gregory the Great
Italy ~ 540-604
Doctor of the Church
“It is not by faith that you will come to know [God] but by love;
not by mere conviction, but by action.”~ St Gregory the Great
Ste Gregory, ora pro nobis!
Praise our Lord with Gregorian chant today!
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