#st pope gregory the great

[anastpaul]

Saint of the Day – 9 June – Saint Maximian of Syracuse (Died 594) Bishop

Saint of the Day – 9 June – Saint Maximian of Syracuse (Died 594) Bishop, Monk at St Gregory the Great’s Monastery in Rome and a close friend and collaborator with St Gregory in many instances and on many projects. Born in Sicily and died in 594 of natural causes at Syracuse, Sicily. Also known as – Massimiano. The Roman Martyrology states: “In Syracuse, Saint Maximian, Bishop, of whom Saint…

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINT OF THE DAY (September 3)

St. Gregory the Great, a central figure of the medieval western Church and one of the most admired Popes in history, is commemorated in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Catholic liturgy today, September 3.

Born near the middle of the sixth century into a noble Roman family, Gregory received a classical education in liberal arts and the law.

He also had strong religious formation from his devout family, particularly from his mother Silvia, also a canonized saint.

By the age of 30, Gregory had advanced to high political office in Rome, during what was nevertheless a period of marked decline for the city.

Some time after becoming the prefect of the former imperial capital, Gregory chose to leave the civil administration to become a monk during the rise of the Benedictine order.

In reality, however, the new monk's great career in public life was yet to come.

After three years of strict monastic life, he was called personally by the Pope to assume the office of a deacon in Rome.

From Rome, he was dispatched to Constantinople to seek aid from the emperor for Rome's civic troubles and to aid in resolving the Eastern church's theological controversies.

He returned to Rome in 586, after six years of service as the Papal representative to the eastern Church and empire.

Rome faced a series of disasters caused by flooding in 589, followed by the death of Pope Pelagius II the next year.

Gregory, then serving as abbot in a monastery, reluctantly accepted his election to replace him as the Bishop of Rome.

Despite this initial reluctance, however, Pope Gregory began working tirelessly to reform and solidify the Roman liturgy, the disciplines of the Church, the military and economic security of Rome, and the Church's spreading influence in western Europe.

As Pope, Gregory brought his political experience at Rome and Constantinople to bear in the task of preventing the Catholic Church from becoming subservient to any of the various groups struggling for control of the former imperial capital.

As the former abbot of a monastery, he strongly supported the Benedictine movement as a bedrock of the western Church.

He sent missionaries to England and is given much of the credit for the nation's conversion.

In undertaking these works, Pope Gregory saw himself as the “servant of the servants of God.”

He was the first of the Bishops of Rome to popularize the now-traditional Papal title, which referred to Christ's command that those in the highest position of leadership should be “the last of all and the servant of all.”

Even as he undertook to consolidate Papal power and shore up the crumbling Roman west, St. Gregory the Great maintained a humble sense of his mission as a servant and pastor of souls, from the time of his election until his death in 604.

[maypoleman1]

12th March

St Gregory the Great’s Day

St Gregory the Great with Blond Angle Boys at a Slave Market in Rome (litho). Source: The Story of the British People in Pictures (1936)/ Bridgeman Images

Today is St Gregory the Great’s Day. Gregory was Bishop of Rome (an early Patriarch, or Pope) and put into place much of the organisation and liturgy of what became the Roman Catholic Church in a Western Roman Empire which, by the mid sixth century, was largely in the hands of Germanic successor-kingdoms, few of whom were Catholic. It was in this context that Gregory’s most famous connection with Britain took place. Although Britannia had been long lost to the Empire, the former province remained deeply contested between invading Anglo-Saxons and the native Romano-Britons. Rome itself had returned to imperial rule after Constantinople’s reconquest of much of Italy and it was while strolling past a Roman slave market that the Bishop’s attention was drawn to the sight of half a dozen slave boys, all with bright blonde hair. On enquiring who they were, the auctioneer told Gregory they were ‘Angles’ or ‘Angli’ in Latin - the Angles were one of the tribes invading Britain at the time. Gregory allegedly responded ‘Not Angli but Angeli’, commenting on the boys’ angelic appearance. On hearing the Angles were Germanic pagans, in 597 Gregory sent the great missionary Augustine to the Jutish kingdom of Kent to commence the conversion of the English to Roman Catholic Christianity. The rest, as they say, is history.

Sadly, Gregory’s momentous decision is not particularly, or reverently, remembered. In Lancashire Gregory was known fondly as “Gregory-get-onion”. Apparently this somewhat unflattering term for the Pope stemmed from the fact that today is traditionally the day on which to sow onion seed in order to ensure a bumper crop. That crop will also enable some weather divining. If the onions are thin-skinned, then the forthcoming winter will be mild; thick-skinned and a hard winter beckons.

[proud-spaniard]

St Gregory The Great being inspired by the Holy Spirit as a dove

San Gregorio Magno inspirado por el Espíritu Santo en forma de paloma

[portraitsofsaints]

Saint Gregory the Great 

Doctor of the Church

540-604

Feast Day: September 3 (New), March 12 (Trad)

Patronage: teachers, students, musicians, singers and England

St. Gregory the Great was Pope from 590 to 604 and is known for his contributions to the Liturgy of the Mass. He built 6 monasteries in Sicily and founded a seventh in his home in Rome. He is one of the four great Doctors of the Latin Church and the first monk to become Pope. Despite his bodily ails and the frightful times he lived in, it has been said that no teacher of equal eminence has arisen in the Church.

Prints, plaques & holy cards available for purchase here: (website)

[cruger2984]

The Pretty Cures and its Saints: Smile Pretty Cure!

LONG. TIME. COMING. 2012 is the year that is all gon' crazy - from the Linsanity takeover, Obama got re-elected as the Commander-in-Chief, Loreen winning in Baku, to the end of the Mayan calendar (and it's not the end of the world as we know it). So, without further ado, here are the Smile Cures with their birthdays corresponding with feast days that is honored and recognized by the Roman Catholic Church!

January 10 - Miyuki Hoshizora (Cure Happy)

St. William of Donjeon (Guillaume de Donjeon): French prelate of the Cistercian order who served as the Archbishop of Bourges from 1200 AD until his passing. He was also known for his deep devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and for his conversion of sinners, and oversaw the construction of the new archdiocesan cathedral that his predecessor had authorized and in which he himself would be buried. It had been claimed that he performed eighteen miracles in life and a further eighteen in death.

May 8 - Akane Hino (Cure Sunny)

The Apparition of St. Michael the Archangel: Traditionally in the Liturgy of the Church, there are two feasts of St. Michael in the Universal Calendar: May 8 and September 29. According to the Roman Breviary, the feast was instituted to thank God for a military victory achieved at Monte Gargano, Italy, on May 8th in the year 663, through the intercession of St. Michael.

December 14 - Yayoi Kise (Cure Peace)

St. John of the Cross: Spanish Carmelite priest, mystic and friar, who is a major figure of the Counter-Reformation in Spain, and he is one of the thirty-seven Doctors of the Church. John is known for his writings, and was mentored by and corresponded with the older Carmelite Teresa of Ávila. Both his poetry and his studies on the development of the soul, particularly his Noche Obscura, are considered the summit of mystical Spanish literature and among the greatest works of all Spanish literature. Canonized a saint by Pope Benedict XIII in 1726 and declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius XI in 1926.

October 9 - Nao Midorikawa (Cure March)

St. Louis Bertrand: Spanish Dominican friar, confessor, missionary, and religious brother who is known as the ’Apostle of South America.’ After his ordination by St. Thomas of Villanova, he went to South America for his missionary work. According to legend, a deadly draught was administered to him by one of the native priests. Through Divine interposition, the poison failed to accomplish its purpose. There is a town festival, called La Tomatina in Buñol, Valencia, in his honor along with Mare de Déu dels Desemparats.

February 10 - Reika Aoki (Cure Beauty)

St. Scholastica: According to a tradition from the 9th century, she is the twin sister of St. Benedict. She is the foundress of the women’s branch of Benedictine Monasticism, and is the patron saint of nuns, education, and convulsive children, and is invoked against storms and rain, due to a narrative that can be found in the Dialogues by St. Gregory the Great.

March 17 - Ayumi Sakagami (Cure Echo)

St. Gertrude of Nivelles: 17th century Benedictine abbess who, with her mother Itta, founded the Abbey of Nivelles, now in Belgium. She is the patron saint of travelers, gardeners, against plague and cats.

[cellabella-illuminates]

Happy April, everyone!

St. Catherine of Siena's feast day is April 29th - if you have anyone in your life who is a fan of this Doctor of the Church, you could gift them this print on her feast day because I finally put them in my shop!

About my illustration and print as well as a little about St. Catherine of Siena:

This is a 5” x 7”  limited edition giclée print (ten editions) on Epson Somerset Velvet - 255 gsm, certified archival paper. Each print is signed, titled, and numbered. Also, the halo on each print is hand-painted with gold gouache, giving each print a unique reflective quality. Shipping and archival picture-framing tips are included.

St. Catherine of Siena, a third-order Dominican from the 14th century, is one of the first female saints named a Doctor of the Church; patron saint of Europe, Italy, journalists, mediators, and people ridiculed for their faith.

In this image, Saint Catherine is standing between Italy and France (Italy is behind her and France is in front of her). She is holding a crucifix in her right hand, as well as a pink rose and a lily, symbols of love and purity. She is extending her left hand toward the border of France (and the viewer) calling the Pope back to Rome. 

This is referencing the time during which the Pope had left Rome for the French city of Avignon, which had resulted in a crisis within the Church called the Great Schism of the West, in which multiple men backed by different kings claimed the papacy. Through her letters, Catherine persuaded Pope Gregory XI to return to Rome from France, persuading also other rulers to recognize the true pope. In addition to calling the Pope back to Rome, she was essential for diplomatic missions to negotiate a peace with Florence. St. Catherine had a gift for telling men to get off their asses and bringing peace. In my illustration, she is reaching out to the viewer, looking directly at them, reminding them of the same thing: get up and do what the Lord has called you to do.

On her head is a crown of thorns, symbolizing a vision she had five years before her death in which Christ offered her a golden crown, symbolizing earthly riches, or a crown of thorns, symbolizing the glory of heaven through suffering in this life (St. Catherine chose the latter). She is also shown with the stigmata on her hands, which she also received in a mystical vision five years before her death.

[apenitentialprayer]

transcript of the video below

And this was kind of channeled for me during the Pandemic, when (and whether it's the same in America, I don't know) in Britain, a lot of the churches basically focused on giving public health messages, kinda telling us to wear masks, to wash our hands and stuff. They were excellent messages, no doubt, but, you know, everyone else was saying that as well. I think that churches should celebrate what sets them apart. The problem for churches, basically, is that they won; so all the things that seemed radical and strange and bizarre to the Romans are now accepted. And a lot of what the Church has traditionally provided —education, healthcare, or so on, you know, charity relief— have been nationalized, the state provides that. So what is left for the churches to do? And I think what the churches should do is to celebrate all the mad-weird stuff that, you know, you're not getting from the Department of Health. So... angels, and God thundering from Mount Sinai, and all that kind of thing. Book of Job; all that stuff. I thought the weirdest thing, in the sense of "it sent shivers down my spine" and opened up vistas of possibility was the one exception that proves the rule in terms of churches not…. not making sense of the horrors that the world was going through during the Pandemic, which is quite early in the lockdown in Rome. The Pope — I can't remember what he was doing, he was… it can't have been a Mass, he was… it was some observance, in St. Peter's Square; and it was completely empty. Just him, in St. Peter's Square; and he, he made prayers and did whatever he was doing, and as he was doing it, bells were clanging out over Rome and the wailing of ambulances taking the sick to hospitals. And he went and prayed before an icon that tradition says had been sent from Constantinople in the reign of Gregory the Great; an icon of Christ, the infant Christ and the Virgin. And Gregory the Great, who was pope in the sixth century, had become pope during a period of plague. and his papacy existed in the context of the kind of suffering that we were going through. And he wrote a great commentary on Job, the Book of Job, which is, perhaps, the profoundest, most troubling, most (and for that reason I think) most satisfying attempt in the Bible to explain how a good God can permit evil to happen. I mean, it doesn't give an answer, but it kind of transcends, perhaps, the need to have an answer for that. And watching that gave me a sense of… the unbelievable wealth of the Christian attempt to explain why we, why we're here. Christianity is the most… successful explanation that humanity has ever come up with to explain why we're here, and why bad things happen, and why good things happen, and the whole nexus of it. And that is an unbelievable reservoir for us to draw on. And I felt that very, very strongly writing Dominion. Kind of… my eyes were opened up to the, the incredible richness in this tradition, and I think that is part of the weirdness; moments that enable you to feel that, to feel that you're not just you in 2023. That you're part of the totality of the human experience that is (perhaps) embraced within the mind of God. I mean, it's a very, very profound feeling, I think.

[thedavekim]

St Gregory the Great (Pope Gregory I); one of the Latin Fathers and Doctor of the Church; patron saint of musicians, singers, students, and teachers

[themuseumwithoutwalls]

MWW Artwork of the Day (12/19/24) Domenico Ghirlandaio (Florentine, 1449-1494) Announcement of Death to St. Fina (c. 1473-75) Fresco Collegiata, San Gimignano

Fina, the pious daughter of poor parents, died on the feast day of Saint Gregory in 1253 after a long and painful illness. Pope Gregory the Great, in full regalia, appears floating in a glory of red winged angels to bless the young woman and announces her imminent death. At the instant she died, white, beautifully scented flowers blossomed forth from her bed of pain. The witnesses to this miracle are her old nurse and another woman, possibly a helpful neighbor. The neighbor greets the great Church Doctor hesitantly with a gesture of restrained fright.

[anastpaul]

Quote/s of the Day – 9 June – The Popes on the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Quote/s of the Day – 9 June – “The Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” and within the Octave of the Sacred Heart – Pentecost III “Learn of the Heart of Godin the Words of God,so that you may ardently longfor eternal things.” St Pope Gregory the Great (540-604)Great Father and Doctor of the Church “In the Sacred Heart,there is the Symboland the express Imageof the Infinite Love of Jesus…

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINT OF THE DAY (September 3)

St. Gregory the Great, a central figure of the medieval western Church and one of the most admired Popes in history, is commemorated in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Catholic liturgy today, September 3.

Born near the middle of the sixth century into a noble Roman family, Gregory received a classical education in liberal arts and the law.

He also had strong religious formation from his devout family, particularly from his mother, Silvia, also a canonized saint.

By around age 30, Gregory had advanced to high political office in Rome, during what was nevertheless a period of marked decline for the city.

Some time after becoming the prefect of the former imperial capital, Gregory chose to leave the civil administration to become a monk during the rise of the Benedictine order.

In reality, however, the new monk's great career in public life was yet to come.

After three years of strict monastic life, he was called personally by the Pope to assume the office of a deacon in Rome.

From Rome, he was dispatched to Constantinople to seek aid from the emperor for Rome's civic troubles and to aid in resolving the Eastern church's theological controversies.

He returned to Rome in 586, after six years of service as the Papal representative to the eastern Church and empire.

Rome faced a series of disasters caused by flooding in 589, followed by the death of Pope Pelagius II the next year.

Gregory, then serving as abbot in a monastery, reluctantly accepted his election to replace him as the Bishop of Rome.

Despite this initial reluctance, however, Pope Gregory began working tirelessly to reform and solidify the Roman liturgy, the disciplines of the Church, the military and economic security of Rome, and the Church's spreading influence in western Europe.

As pope, Gregory brought his political experience at Rome and Constantinople to bear in the task of preventing the Catholic Church from becoming subservient to any of the various groups struggling for control of the former imperial capital.

As the former abbot of a monastery, he strongly supported the Benedictine movement as a bedrock of the western Church.

He sent missionaries to England and was given much of the credit for the nation's conversion.

In undertaking these works, Pope Gregory saw himself as the “servant of the servants of God.”

He was the first of the Bishops of Rome to popularize the now-traditional Papal title, which referred to Christ's command that those in the highest position of leadership should be “the last of all and the servant of all.”

Even as he undertook to consolidate Papal power and shore up the crumbling Roman west, St. Gregory the Great maintained a humble sense of his mission as a servant and pastor of souls, from the time of his election until his death in 604.

[ginandoldlace]

KING ALFRED THE GREAT 848-899AD

In the words of Sir Walter Besant;

"Alfred is and will always remain the typical man of our race- call him Anglo Saxon, call him American, call him Englishman, call him Australian- the typical man of our race at his best and noblest"

England's most famous Saxon king of Wessex. Most famous for his successful defence against the Great Heathen and Summer Dane armies led by Guthrum, and the sons of Ragnar Lodbrok and efforts of pagan conversion.

In 853, whilst still a young boy, Alfred travelled on a pilgrimage with his father to Rome. Whilst there, he was confirmed by Pope Leo IV himself who grew a paternal love for the boy, and named Alfred an honorary consul of Rome and king of God (although Alfred was not expected to receive the throne as fifth in line). Alfred also spent a time in the court of the Frankish emperor, Charles the Bald.

Although suffering from life-long stomach sicknesses and pains, he distinguished himself as a scholar and a poet from childhood, an interest he inherited from his mother. As fate would have it, following the deaths of all his four older brothers, he was crowned king of Wessex at only 23.

Alfred was known as an incredibly pious and zealous Catholic monarch with special focus on education reforms with a desire for more peasants to be educated, especially in literacy and Church religion. He personally translated the Latin works of St. Augustine and St. Pope Gregory the Great into vernacular. He is also credited with building England's first navy.

Alfred spent most of his life trying to repel pagan invasions with a dream of uniting England into a single country. A dream that would be completed by his grandson, Athelstan, who defeated the last Viking stronghold as the first Anglo-Saxon ruler of all England.

Alfred would cement his fame in history at the battle of Ethandun where won a last stand, battle after a surprise attack which sent he and his family into hiding in the marshes for months.

Upon defeat, Viking chieftain, Guthrum, converted to Christianity and was baptised with Alfred as his godfather; subsequently ruling as Alfred's Christian puppet state in East Anglia.

After his victory at Eddington, Alfred worked on strengthening the borders against further Viking incursions by constructing a network of fortified burhs and forts to protect local peasants, manned by localised militias after he reformed the military to be more efficient. Throughout his rule, he also sent letters out to monasteries, bishops and feudal lords from mainland Europe, requesting for them to send learned scholars to his court to aid in education reforms; especially from the Franks. It was during this time, Alfred also taught himself Latin. Alfred was the king who saved England from total pagan rule, as the last Christian monarch standing. Even when defeated and all seemed lost, Alfred emerged from the marshes with an assembled army and made one of the greatest military and political comebacks in history.

[eternal-echoes]

Pope Francis is the first pontiff from a religious order since the Camaldolese monk Gregory XVI, who was elected in 1831. Thus I ask: “What is the specific place of religious men and women in the church of today?” “Religious men and women are prophets,” says the pope. “They are those who have chosen a following of Jesus that imitates his life in obedience to the Father, poverty, community life and chastity. In this sense, the vows cannot end up being caricatures; otherwise, for example, community life becomes hell, and chastity becomes a way of life for unfruitful bachelors. The vow of chastity must be a vow of fruitfulness. In the church, the religious are called to be prophets in particular by demonstrating how Jesus lived on this earth, and to proclaim how the kingdom of God will be in its perfection. A religious must never give up prophecy. This does not mean opposing the hierarchical part of the church, although the prophetic function and the hierarchical structure do not coincide. I am talking about a proposal that is always positive, but it should not cause timidity. Let us think about what so many great saints, monks and religious men and women have done, from St. Anthony the Abbot onward. Being prophets may sometimes imply making waves. I do not know how to put it.... Prophecy makes noise, uproar, some say ‘a mess.’ But in reality, the charism of religious people is like yeast: prophecy announces the spirit of the Gospel.”

-INTERVIEW WITH POPE FRANCIS by Fr Antonio Spadaro, August 19, 2013

[apesoformythoughts]

“In his Homily on the Gospels, [Pope St.] Gregory presents [Mary Magdalene] as a paragon and chiefly as an example of patience: patient faith, patient love, patient searching. Mary was the first to see Christ because she patiently remained at the tomb when the others had left. ‘Perseverance is essential for any beneficial work, as the voice of truth tells us: Whoever perseveres to the end will be saved,’ Gregory writes, and continues: ‘At first she sought but did not find, but when she persevered it happened that she found what she was looking for. When our desires are not satisfied, they grow stronger, and becoming stronger they take hold of their object. Holy desires likewise grow with anticipation, and if they do not grow they are not really desires. Anyone who succeeds in attaining the truth has burned with such a great love. As David says: My soul has thirsted for the living God; when shall I come and appear before the face of God? And so also in the Song of Songs the Church says: I was wounded by love; and again: My soul is melted with love.’”

— Tomáš Halík: Patience with God

[portraitsofsaints]

Saint Gregory the Great 

Doctor of the Church

540-604

Feast Day: September 3 (New), March 12 (Trad)

Patronage: teachers, students, musicians, singers and England

St. Gregory the Great was Pope from 590 to 604 and is known for his contributions to the Liturgy of the Mass. He built 6 monasteries in Sicily and founded a seventh in his home in Rome. He is one of the four great Doctors of the Latin Church and the first monk to become Pope. Despite his bodily ails and the frightful times he lived in, it has been said that no teacher of equal eminence has arisen in the Church.

Prints, plaques & holy cards available for purchase here: (website)