Saint Gregory the Great

Gregory was born in Rome around 540, into the gens Anicia, a family of the very highest aristocracy: his father Gordianus was an official, and his mother Silvia is venerated as a saint too. Among his ancestors was a pope. He had the career everyone expected and became prefect of Rome, the city’s highest civil office, at around thirty. Then he left everything: he turned his family home on the Caelian Hill into a monastery and became a monk there. It was the happiest time of his life, and he wrote as much. It didn’t last. He was sent to Constantinople as the pope’s representative, and in 590 — while Rome was ravaged by plague, floods and the Lombards — he himself was elected pope. He tried to refuse. What he did in fourteen years is impressive. He held together a city that was falling apart, organized the grain supply to feed the Romans, and dealt with the Lombards when the emperor wouldn’t lift a finger. He reformed the liturgy — Gregorian chant bears his name, although his part in that story is debated — and wrote the Pastoral Rule, which for a thousand years was the handbook for anyone leading a community. And he sent Augustine to England with forty monks, changing the history of that island. He died in Rome on March 12, 604. He was the first pope to sign himself “servant of the servants of God.” If your name is Gregory, today is your name day.