Of the death of the blessed Pope Gregory. [604 A.D.]
AT this time, that is, in the year of our Lord 605, the blessed
Pope Gregory, after having most gloriously governed the Roman
Apostolic see thirteen years, six months, and ten days, died, and
was translated to an eternal abode in the kingdom of Heaven. Of
whom, seeing that by his zeal he converted our nation, the
English, from the power of Satan to the faith of Christ, it
behoves us to discourse more at large in our Ecclesiastical
History, for we may rightly, nay, we must, call him our apostle;
because, as soon as he began to wield the pontifical power over
all the world, and was placed over the Churches long before
converted to the true faith, he made our nation, till then
enslaved to idols, the Church of Christ, so that concerning him
we may use those words of the Apostle; "if he be not an
apostle to others, yet doubtless he is to us; for the seal of his
apostleship are we in the Lord."
He was by nation a Roman, son of Gordianus, tracing his descent
from ancestors that were not only noble, but religious. Moreover
Felix, once bishop of the same Apostolic see, a man of great
honour in Christ and in the Church, was his forefather, Nor did
he show his nobility in religion by less strength of devotion
than his parents and kindred. But that nobility of this world
which was seen in him, by the help of the Divine Grace, he used
only to gain the glory of eternal dignity; for soon quitting his
secular habit, he entered a monastery, wherein he began to live
with so much grace of perfection that (as he was wont afterwards
with tears to testify) his mind was above all transitory things;
that he rose superior to all that is subject to change; that he
used to think of nothing but what was heavenly; that, whilst
detained by the body, he broke through the bonds of the flesh by
contemplation; and that he even loved death, which is a penalty
to almost all men, as the entrance into life, and the reward of
his labours. This he used to say of himself, not to boast of his
progress in virtue, but rather to bewail the falling off which he
imagined he had sustained through his pastoral charge. Indeed,
once in a private conversation with his deacon, Peter, after
having enumerated the former virtues of his soul, he added
sorrowfully, "But now, on account of the pastoral charge, it
is entangled with the affairs of laymen, and, after so fair an
appearance of inward peace, is defiled with the dust of earthly
action. And having wasted itself on outward things, by turning
aside to the affairs of many men, even when it desires the inward
things, it returns to them undoubtedly impaired. I therefore
consider what I endure, I consider what I have lost, and when I
behold what I have thrown away; that which I bear appears the
more grievous."
So spake the holy man constrained by his great humility. But it
behoves us to believe that he lost nothing of his monastic
perfection by reason of his pastoral charge, but rather that he
gained greater profit through the labour of converting many, than
by the former calm of his private life, and chiefly because,
whilst holding the pontifical office, he set about organizing his
house like a monastery. And when first drawn from the monastery,
ordained to the ministry of the altar, and sent to Constantinople
as representative of the Apostolic see, though he now took part
in the secular affairs of the palace, yet he did not abandon the
fixed course of his heavenly life; for some of the brethren of
his monastery, who had followed him to the royal city in their
brotherly love, he employed for the better observance of monastic
rule, to the end that at all times, by their example, as he
writes himself, he might be held fast to the calm shore of
prayer, as it were, with the cable of an anchor, whilst he should
be tossed up and down by the ceaseless waves of worldly affairs;
and daily in the intercourse of studious reading with them,
strengthen his mind shaken with temporal concerns. By their
company he was not only guarded against the assaults of the
world, but more and more roused to the exercises of a heavenly
life.
For they persuaded him to interpret by a mystical exposition the
book of the blessed Job, which is involved in great obscurity;
nor could he refuse to undertake that work, which brotherly
affection imposed on him for the future benefit of many; but in a
wonderful manner, in five and thirty books of exposition, he
taught how that same book is to be understood literally; how to
be referred to the mysteries of Christ and the Church; and in
what sense it is to be adapted to every one of the faithful. This
work he began as papal representative in the royal city, but
finished it at Rome after being made pope. Whilst he was still in
the royal city, by the help of the grace of Catholic truth, he
crushed in its first rise a new heresy which sprang up there,
concerning the state of our resurrection. For Eutychius, bishop
of that city, taught, that our body, in the glory of
resurrection, would be impalpable, and more subtle than wind and
air. The blessed Gregory hearing this, proved by force of truth,
and by the instance of the Resurrection of our Lord, that this
doctrine was every way opposed to the orthodox faith. For the
Catholic faith holds that our body, raised by the glory of
immortality, is indeed rendered subtile by the effect of
spiritual power, but is palpable by the reality of nature;
according to the example of our Lord's Body, concerning which,
when risen from the dead, He Himself says to His disciples,
"Handle Me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones,
as ye see Me have. In maintaining this faith, the venerable
Father Gregory so earnestly strove against the rising heresy, and
with the help of the most pious emperor, Tiberius Constantine, so
fully suppressed it, that none has been since found to revive it.
He likewise composed another notable book, the "Liber
Pastoralis," wherein he clearly showed what sort of persons
ought to be preferred to rule the Church; how such rulers ought
to live; with how much discrimination they ought to instruct the
different classes of their hearers, and how seriously to reflect
every day on their own frailty. He also wrote forty homilies on
the Gospel, which he divided equally into two volumes; and
composed four books of Dialogues, in which, at the request of his
deacon, Peter, he recounted the virtues of the more renowned
saints of Italy, whom he had either known or heard of, as a
pattern of life for posterity; to the end that, as he taught in
his books of Expositions what virtues men ought to strive after,
so by describing the miracles of saints, he might make known the
glory of those' virtues. Further, in twenty-two homilies, he
showed how much light is latent in the first and last parts of
the prophet Ezekiel, which seemed the most obscure. Besides
which, he wrote the "Book of Answers," to the questions
of the holy Augustine, the first bishop of the English nation, as
we have shown above, inserting the same book entire in this
history; and the useful little "Synodical Book," which
he composed with the bishops of Italy on necessary matters of the
Church; as well as private letters to certain persons. And it is
the more wonderful that he could write so many lengthy works,
seeing that almost all the time of his youth, to use his own
words, he was frequently tormented with internal pain, constantly
enfeebled by the weakness of his digestion, and oppressed by a
low but persistent fever. But in all these troubles, forasmuch as
he carefully reflected that, as the Scripture testifies, "He
scourgeth every son whom He receiveth," the more severely he
suffered under those present evils, the more he assured himself
of his eternal hope.
Thus much may be said of his immortal genius, which could not be
crushed by such severe bodily pains. Other popes applied
themselves to building churches or adorning them with gold and
silver, but Gregory was wholly intent upon gaining souls.
Whatsoever money he had, he took care to distribute diligently
and give to the poor, that his righteousness, might endure for
ever, and his horn be exalted with honour; so that the words of
the blessed Job might be truly said of him, "When the ear
heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave
witness to me: because I delivered the poor that cried, and the
fatherless, and him that had none to help him. The blessing of
him that was ready to perish came upon me, and I caused the
widow's heart to sing for, joy. I put on righteousness, and it
clothed me; my judgement was as a robe and a diadem. I was eyes
to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a father to the
poor; and the cause which I knew not, I searched out. And I brake
the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his
teeth." And a little after: "If I have withheld,"
says he, "the poor from their desire; or have caused the
eyes of the widow to fail; or have eaten my morsel myself alone,
and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof: (for from my youth
compassion grew up with me, and from my mother's womb it came
forth with me.")
To his works of piety and righteousness this also may be added,
that he saved our nation, by the preachers he sent hither, from
the teeth of the old enemy, and made it partaker of eternal
liberty. Rejoicing in the faith and salvation of our race, and
worthily commending it with praise, he says, in his exposition of
the blessed Job, "Behold, the tongue of Britain, which only
knew how to utter barbarous cries, has long since begun to raise
the Hebrew Hallelujah to the praise of God! Behold, the once
swelling ocean now serves prostrate at the feet of the saints;
and its wild upheavals, which earthly princes could not subdue
with the sword, are now, through the fear of God, bound by the
lips of priests with words alone; and the heathen that stood not
in awe of troops of warriors, now believes and fears the tongues
of the humble! For he has received a message from on high and
mighty works are revealed; the strength of the knowledge of God
is given him, and restrained by the fear of the Lord, he dreads
to do evil, and with all his heart desires to attain to
everlasting grace." In which words the blessed Gregory shows
us this also, that St.Augustine and his companions brought the
English to receive the truth, not only by the preaching of words,
but also by showing forth heavenly signs.
The blessed Pope Gregory, among other things, caused Masses to be
celebrated in the churches of the holy Apostles, Peter and Paul,
over their bodies. And in the celebration of Masses, he added
three petitions of the utmost perfection: "And dispose our
days in thy peace, and bid us to be preserved from eternal
damnation, and to be numbered in the flock of thine elect."
He governed the Church in the days of the Emperors Mauritius and
Phocas, and passing out of this life in the second year of the
same Phocas, departed to the true life which is in Heaven. His
body was buried in the church of the blessed Apostle Peter before
the sacristy, on the 12th day of March, to rise one day in the
same body in glory with the rest of the holy pastors of the
Church. On his tomb was written this epitaph:
Receive, 0 Earth, his body taken from thine own; thou canst
restore it, when God calls to life. His spirit rises to the
stars; the claims of death shall not avail against him, for death
itself is but the way to new life. In this tomb are laid the
limbs of a great pontiff, who yet lives for ever in all places in
countless deeds of mercy. Hunger and cold he overcame with food
and raiment, and shielded souls from the enemy by his holy
teaching. And whatsoever he taught in word, that he fulfilled in
deed, that he might be a pattern, even as he spake words of
mystic meaning. By his guiding love he brought the Angles to
Christ, gaining armies for the Faith from a new people. This was
thy toil, thy task, thy care, thy aim as shepherd, to offer to
thy Lord abundant increase of the flock. So, Consul of God,
rejoice in this thy triumph, for now thou hast the reward of thy
works for evermore.
Nor must we pass by in silence the story of the blessed Gregory,
handed down to us by the tradition of our ancestors, which
explains his earnest care for the salvation of our nation. It is
said that one day, when some merchants had lately arrived at
Rome, many things were exposed for sale in the market place, and
much people resorted thither to buy: Gregory himself went with
the rest, and saw among other wares some boys put up for sale, of
fair complexion, with pleasing countenances, and very beautiful
hair. When he beheld them, he asked, it is said, from what region
or country they were brought? and was told, from the island of
Britain, and that the inhabitants were like that in appearance.
He again inquired whether those islanders were Christians, or
still involved in the errors of paganism, and was informed that
they were pagans. Then fetching a deep sigh from the bottom of
his heart, "Alas! what pity," said he, "that the
author of darkness should own men of such fair countenances; and
that with such grace of outward form, their minds should be void
of inward grace. He therefore again asked, what was the name of
that nation? and was answered, that they were called Angles.
"Right," said he, "for they have an angelic face,
and it is meet that such should be co-heirs with the Angels in
heaven. What is the name of the province from which they are
brought?" It was replied, that the natives of that province
were called Deiri. (Note: Southern Northumbria) "Truly are
they Deira," said he, "saved from wrath, and called to
the mercy of Christ. How is the king of that called?" They
told him his name was Aelli;' and he, playing upon the name,
said, "Allelujah, the praise of God the Creator must be sung
in those parts."
Then he went to the bishop of the Roman Apostolic see (for he was
not himself then made pope), and entreated him to send some
ministers of the Word into Britain to the nation of the English,
that it might be converted to Christ by them; declaring himself
ready to carry out that work with the help of God, if the
Apostolic Pope should think fit to have it done. But not being
then able to perform this task, because, though the Pope was
willing to grant his request, yet the citizens of Rome could not
be brought to consent that he should depart so far from the city,
as soon as he was himself made Pope, he carried out the
long-desired work, sending, indeed, other preachers, but himself
by his exhortations and prayers helping the preaching to bear
fruit. This account, which we have received from a past
generation, we have thought fit to insert in our Ecclesiastical
History.