(c.540-604) Gregorius Magnus, “Father of the Fathers,” one of the four great Latin Fathers and Doctors of the Church, was the son of a Roman senator and the great-grandson of Pope Saint Felix III. He was a Benedictine monk, ambassador for Pope Pelagius II for several years, and was elected the 64th pope (he was the first monk of the papacy). Haunted by a memory of English children sold into slavery in Rome, Gregory sent Benedictine missionaries to evangelize England. Saint Gregory had an enormous impact on the early medieval Church.
“In his writings, Gregory never sought to delineate ‘his own’ doctrine, his own originality. Rather, he intended to echo the traditional teaching of the Church; he simply wanted to be the mouthpiece of Christ and of the Church on the way that must be taken to reach God” (Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience, June 4, 2008). There is nothing novel in the Twelve Steps, but working them is more than just thinking about them.
“The proof of love is in the works. Where love exists, it works great things. But when it ceases to act, it ceases to exist” (Saint Gregory the Great).
Reflection by Brad Farmer