A Pope whom many Christians remember with gratitude

On Wednesday, March 12, numerous Christian churches, notably the Roman Catholic, but also including many in the Protestant tradition (especially Lutherans and Episcopalians), will remember and give thanks to God for the life of Gregory the Great, Bishop of Rome, who died in 604 a.m. Remembering that he labored during an extraordiany dark time in the history of the Europe (and long before there were any serious divisions of the Church), do take time to read this short biography of his life and thank God for his tremendous witness to Christ.

As James E. Kiefer reminds us in his short biography of Gregory the Great,

English-speaking Christians will remember Gregory for sending a party of missionaries headed by Augustine of Canterbury (not to be confused with the more famous Augustine of Hippo) to preach the Gospel to the pagan Anglo-Saxon tribes that had invaded England and largely conquered or displaced the Celtic Christians previously living there. Gregory had originally hoped to go to England as a missionary himself, but was pressed into service elsewhere, first as apocrisiarius [a delegate or deputy; especially, the pope's nuncio or legate at Constantinople] and then as bishop of Rome. He accordingly sent others, but took an active interest in their work, writing numerous letters both to Augustine and his monks and to their English converts.

Gregory served the Christian church well, although he was not perfect, (who among us is?).

As an aside: in my chapbook, I've placed this quotation, attributed to Gregory by Aquinas in his Catena Aurea: "The highest, the only proof of love, is to love our adversary."

After you read about him, you may wish to offer this prayer to God:

Almighty and merciful God, who raised up Gregory of Rome to Be a servant of the servants of God, and inspired him to send missionaries to preach the Gospel to the English people: Preserve in your Church the catholic and apostolic faith they taught, that your people, being fruitful in every good work, may receive the crown of glory that never fades away; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.