Pope Gregory I: Encyclopedia II - Pope Gregory I - Works

Pope Gregory I - Works

Gregory is the only pope between the 5th and the 11th centuries whose correspondence and writings have survived enough to form a comprehensive corpus. "His character strikes us as an ambiguous and enigmatic one," Norman F. Cantor observed (Cantor, 1993, p. 157). "On the one hand he was an able and determined administrator, a skilled and clever diplomat, a leader of the greatest sophistication and vision; but on the other hand, he appears in his writings as a superstitious and credulous monk, hostile to learning, crudely limited as a theologian, and excessively devoted to saints, miracles and relics"— like every European of his generation, one might add.

• Sermons (forty on the Gospels are recognized as authentic, twenty-two on Ezekiel, two on the Song of Songs)
• Dialogues on the life of Saint Benedict
• Commentary on Job, frequently known even in English-language histories by its Latin title, Magna Moralia
• The Rule for Pastors, in which he contrasted the role of bishops as pastors of their flock with their position as nobles of the church: the definitive statement of the nature of the episcopal office
• Some 850 letters have survived from his Papal Register of letters. This collection serves as an invaluable primary source for these years.
• In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Gregory is credited with devising the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. It is celebrated on certain nights during Great Lent in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
• Gregory introduced certain minor reforms into the Roman Liturgy.

The Gregorian chant, a religious musical style of the Middle Ages, is named for Pope Gregory. Although he is not known to have written any chants himself—the majority of chants written during this time were published anonymously—his influence in the Church caused the style to be named after him.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Works", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki