1. History of the Church I: Week 13

2. Gregory the Great  By 500, Rome was a desert  War had torn down buildings and ravaged homes  Floods had caused many people to leave the city  Finally, the plague hit the city in the 6 th century  Men had a slight sore throat one day, coughing up black liquid the next and dying an agonizing death within a week  Pope Pelagius II literally died screaming in agony

3. Gregory the Great  The papacy was left unfilled for six months  When a monk named Gregory was voted in September of 590, he promptly fled the city and hid in the forest  After literally being dragged back to the city to take office, Gregory looked nothing like a great leader  Balding, 50, frail and lacking a commanding presence, Gregory did not look the part of a Pope

4. Gregory the Great  His first act as Pope was to offer a memorial to his predecessor and offers prayers for the dead  Suddenly, the plague subsides and Gregory gets the credit

5. Gregory’s background  He was born into an upper class family which educated him to be a public servant  He rose to be the highest public official in Rome by 370 but he didn’t like the government life  He sold his inheritance and built seven monasteries  He gave the rest of his money as alms to the poor  He retreated into a monastery as Benedictine monk

6. Pope Gregory  Many men believed western civilization was on the verge of collapse  Gregory decided to face the crisis head on  First he wrote the Pastoral Rules  He told the members and the pastors underneath him to be examples of good behavior  He paid attention to every detail of administration while being bed ridden for most of his last four years with gout

7. Pope Gregory  The church during this time was the largest landholder in Italy  When the Lombard's land waste to central Italy, the church stepped in feed the poor and collect taxes  He took care of the defense of Italy and made peace with two Lombard leaders  The Pope then became an important political position in the coming centuries  He hated titles calling himself “the servant of the servants of God”

8. Pope Gregory  He hated pride and sought to be as humble as he could be  He surrounded himself with ordinary monks who were determined to do the work of God not themselves  He sent monks all over Europe to convert the barbarians  He sent Augustine to England and it became a solid Christian land  He was no intellectual giant but he believed if man sinned after baptism he should do penance

9. Gregory’s Legacy  His devotion to God’s word and missionary work were his lasting legacy  He believed the saints (ordinary people) play a vital role in the ministry with the use of intercessory prayer  He believed relics played an important part the life of the church  He believed the Eucharist was really the blood and body of Christ so this helped each person’s spiritual walk