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029 - 28 The Age of Gregory the Great · Short History of the Christian Church

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  Speaker 1: Part one, Chapter twenty eight of Short History of the
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  Speaker 1: Christian Church by John Fletcher Hurst. This LibriVox recording is
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  Speaker 1: in the public domain. Chapter twenty eight. The Age of
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  Speaker 1: Gregory the Great. The march of the Roman bishop towards
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  Speaker 1: priority throughout the Christian world was steady. The divisions of
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  Speaker 1: the Eastern Empire, the decline of moral life, the universal
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  Speaker 1: spread of controversy, and particularly the pre eminent ability of
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  Speaker 1: several of the bishops of Rome, were calculated to advance
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  Speaker 1: the claims of that patriarchate above all others. The Bishop
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  Speaker 1: Leo the First a d. Four forty four sixty one
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  Speaker 1: was a man of strong intellect, and he did much
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  Speaker 1: to clothe himself with power and prestige. But the most
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  Speaker 1: eminent incumbent of the Roman episcopate was Gregory, who was
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  Speaker 1: called the Great and ruled eighty five ninety to six
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  Speaker 1: hundred four. Under him, every department of the priesthood and
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  Speaker 1: the episcopacy advanced in strength. His claims, artfully disguised, were
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  Speaker 1: of the most lofty kind. Gregory's character was of a
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  Speaker 1: striking quality. He was versatile and strong in everything he touched.
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  Speaker 1: In the development of the hierarchical idea, in theology, liturgical literature,
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  Speaker 1: pastoral oversight, monasticism and missions. He was a master. His
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  Speaker 1: hand was felt in the whole field of the ecclesiastical
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  Speaker 1: life of his day. Born at Rome eighty five forty
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  Speaker 1: and descended from an ancient patrician family, he had all
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  Speaker 1: the advantages which wealth and education could bring. His parents
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  Speaker 1: designed him for service in the state, but he turned
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  Speaker 1: his attention to the church and advanced rapidly. Yet he
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  Speaker 1: showed no disposition to hasten matters. He possessed the virtue
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  Speaker 1: of patience in a high degree. Gregory after his father's death,
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  Speaker 1: founded six cloisters and occupied one himself. He dedicated himself
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  Speaker 1: to a life of self denial. He became deacon of
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  Speaker 1: the Bishop Pelagius and was sent as his representative to
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  Speaker 1: the court of Constantinople. He wrote a commentary on the
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  Speaker 1: Book of Job and pursued his studies with great energy.
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  Speaker 1: He was also a brilliant preacher and wrote a book
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  Speaker 1: Regular Pastoralis the Pastoral Rule, full of lofty spiritual instruction
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  Speaker 1: to his clergy. On his return to Rome and the
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  Speaker 1: death of the Bishop Pelagius, he was chosen to succeed him.
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  Speaker 1: He declined the office at first, but afterwards accepted it,
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  Speaker 1: but apparently by pressure towards the Emperor. He manifested the
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  Speaker 1: profoundest respect, probably with a view to gaining by yielding.
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  Speaker 1: He called himself serve Us suvorum, day servant of the
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  Speaker 1: Lord's servants. He devoted himself to the purification of the
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  Speaker 1: life of the church and the enforcement of monastic discipline.
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  Speaker 1: He fixed the term of the novitiate to two years,
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  Speaker 1: forbade youths under eighteen to enter a monastery, and ordered
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  Speaker 1: all ecclesiastical officials to seize those monks who wandered about
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  Speaker 1: the country like tramps, and to deliver them to the
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  Speaker 1: nearest monastery for punishment. He was especially active in his
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  Speaker 1: encouragement of missions. He organized the Anglo Saxon and other missions,
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  Speaker 1: and sought to send the Gospel into every part of Europe.
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  Speaker 1: He took the greatest interest in the English Mission, and
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  Speaker 1: sent to Augustine very detailed instructions for his work. Under him,
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  Speaker 1: the authority of the Roman bishop advanced far beyond its
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  Speaker 1: former dimensions. He created the papacy of history. He preserved
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  Speaker 1: amicable relations with the emperor, though all the while holding
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  Speaker 1: firmly his ecclesiastical independence. End of Chapter twenty eight,