Ever heard of the term “Gregorian chant?” Ever wondered where it came from? It refers to the plainsong named after Pope St. Gregory the Great. Very devoted to the liturgy, St. Gregory promoted sacred music and to this day, Gregorian chant remains an irreplaceable vivifying principle within the Western Christian liturgy.
Today is St. Gregory’s liturgical memorial, actually the anniversary of his consecration as bishop of Rome and successor of St. Peter. Son of a Roman Senator, Saint Gregory was born in Rome around 540AD and, following his dad's footsteps, embarked upon a political career. He rose through the ranks of civil service and eventually became Prefect (mayor) of the city of Rome. At that point, Gregory discerned a call to deeper life with God so promptly gave away his wealth to the poor and entered the monastery of St. Andrew (ca. 574) where he ultimately became abbot (585). The Pope, recognizing his talent, named him as one of the seven deacons of Rome and then sent him on a diplomatic mission as papal legate to the imperial city of Constantinople. Upon the death of the pope in 590, St. Gregory was elected to succeed him. He died in 604AD is known as one of the four greatest Latin-speaking Fathers and Doctors of the Church.
Our priest celebrant today in my religious community says that St. Gregory is almost like St. Augustine in the expanse of his writings. I searched the internet for some of his works and found this piece from his
Moralia in Job - a commentary on the
Book of Job according to the literal, moral, and spiritual senses of Scripture.
This one talks of
True Simplicity. "Some people are so simple that they do not know what uprightness is. Theirs is not the true simplicity of the innocent: they are as far from that as they are far from rising to the virtue of uprightness. As long as they do not know how to guard their steps by walking in uprightness, they can never remain innocent merely by walking in simplicity. This is why St Paul warns his disciples:
I hope that you are also wise in what is good, and innocent of what is bad, but also brothers, you are not to be childish in your outlook, though you can be babies as far as wickedness is concerned.
Thus Christ our Truth enjoins his disciples with the words:
Be cunning as serpents and yet as harmless as doves. In giving them this admonition, he had to join the two together, so that both the simplicity of the dove might be instructed by the craftiness of the serpent, and the craftiness of the serpent might be attempered by the simplicity of the dove.
That is why the Holy Spirit has manifested his presence to mankind, not only in the form of a dove but also in the form of fire. For by the dove simplicity is indicated, and by fire, zeal. So he is manifested in a dove and in fire, because those who are full of the Spirit have the mildness of simplicity, but catch fire with zeal of uprightness against the offences of sinners.
An upright and honest man who feared God and shunned evil. Undoubtedly whoever longs for the eternal country lives sincerely and uprightly: perfect in practice, and right in faith, sincere in the good that he does in this lower state, right in the high truths which he minds in his inner self. For there are some who are not sincere in the good actions that they do, looking not to be rewarded within themselves but to win favour from others. Hence it is well said by a certain wise man, Woe to the sinner who follows two ways. A sinner goes two ways when an action he performs belongs to God but what he aims at in his thought belongs to the world.
It is well said, who feared God and shunned evil, for the holy Church of the elect starts on the path of simplicity and of uprightness from fear but completes that path in charity. When, from the love of God, she feels an unwillingness to sin, then she may shun evil. But when she is still doing good deeds from fear then she is not entirely shunning evil: the fact is that she would have sinned if she could have sinned without being punished."
If you want to read more, you can
visit this site.
I was in Aguascalientes, Mexico two days ago and had the chance to see the sanctuary of the Broken Christ (Cristo Roto) in San Jose de Gracia -- a touching piece indeed. It's a bronze sculpture of Christ without arms and legs, a mutilated Christ without a cross. Beneath the 25 meter high statue is written the following:
