Gregory I
6th-century Roman Pope, theologian and Church Father, Catholic and Orthodox saint, 64th Bishop of Rome and Doctor of the Church
Feast: 3 September (current Roman calendar, memorial) · 12 March (1962 Missal, III class)
Who they were
Gregory was born in Rome around 540 to the patrician Anicii family; his parents Gordian and Silvia are venerated as saints. After studying law he became Prefect of Rome, then gave his goods to the poor and turned his family home on the Caelian Hill into a monastery dedicated to St Andrew. Pope Pelagius II made him a deacon and sent him to Constantinople as his envoy for six years, where he kept living as a monk.
Elected Pope, he governed the Church and the city through plague, famine and war, using the Church's temporal power without forgetting its spiritual task. His Dialogues, whose second book is the life of St Benedict, told of holy men and women. He called himself 'servant of the servants of God', a title the popes have kept. He died on 12 March 604 and is buried in St Peter's.
The miracles
There was never a formal cause: Gregory has been honoured as a saint since his death. He is a Doctor of the Church, called 'the Great'.
Why that counted as sanctity
Gregory gave up wealth and power for the monastery, then accepted the burden of the papacy and carried it as a servant. He fed Rome, taught the Church and saw himself only as 'servant of the servants of God'.
Connected on this site
- Saint Silvia Saint Parent, Mother
- Thomas Aquinas Saint Influenced by them
- Agapetus I Saint“His father, Gordianus, was a priest in Rome and he may have been related to two popes, Felix III and Gregory I.” — Wikipedia
- Anastasius I of Antioch Saint“He was a friend of Pope Gregory I, and aroused the enmity of the Emperor Justinian by opposing certain imperial doctrines about the Body of Christ (Justinian favoured the Aphthartodocetae).” — Wikipedia
- Augustine of Canterbury Saint“He was the prior of a Benedictine monastery in Rome when Pope Gregory I chose him in 595 to lead a mission, usually known as the Gregorian mission, to Britain to Christianize King Æthelberht and his Kingdom of Kent from Anglo-Saxon paganism.” — Wikipedia
- Augustine of Hippo Saint“Generally regarded as one of the greatest theologians and philosophers in the history of the Catholic Church, he is one of the four Great Latin Church Fathers, along with Ambrose, Jerome, and Pope Gregory I.” — Wikipedia
- Bede Saint“He is considered by many historians to be the most important scholar of antiquity for the period between the death of Pope Gregory I in 604 and the coronation of Charlemagne in 800.” — Wikipedia
- Boniface IV Saint“Boniface had served as a deacon under Pope Gregory I, and like his mentor, he ran the Lateran Palace as a monastery.” — Wikipedia
- Cerbonius Saint“Pope Gregory I praises him in Book XI of his Dialogues.” — Wikipedia
- Cyriacus II of Constantinople Saint“Pope Gregory I received the legates bearing the synodal letters which announced his consecration, partly from a desire not to disturb the peace of the church, and partly from the personal respect which he entertained for Cyriacus II; but in his reply he warned him against the sin of causing divisions in the church,…” — Wikipedia
- Donatus of Evorea Saint“However this led to a problem of jurisdiction and custody for the holy relics, which was resolved by Pope Gregory I.” — Wikipedia
- Felicula Saint“Felicula was a probably fourth-century Roman martyr whose relics Pope Gregory I gave to Bishop John of Ravenna in about 592.” — Wikipedia
13 more
- Goulven de Léon Saint“When he was elected as bishop, he tried to avoid that responsibility by going to Rome; after intervention by Pope Gregory I he returned and served for over a decade.” — Wikipedia
- Gregory of Agrigento Saint“Gregory (559–630) was a Sicilian Christian prelate who served as Bishop of Agrigento from 590 until at least 603 and was a correspondent of Pope Gregory I.” — Wikipedia
- Hermenegild Saint“His death was later celebrated as a martyrdom due to the influence of Pope Gregory I's Dialogues, in which he portrayed Hermenegild as a "Catholic martyr rebelling against the tyranny of an Arian father."” — Wikipedia
- Leo I Saint“Additionally, he is the first of the three Popes listed in the Annuario Pontificio with the title "the Great," alongside Gregory I and Nicholas I.” — Wikipedia
- Mary Magdalene Saint“Eventually she became viewed in Western Christianity, largely due to Pope Gregory I's influential 591 sermon, as a repentant prostitute, despite there being no biblical basis for this portrayal.” — Wikipedia
- Mellitus Saint“Mellitus was the recipient of a famous letter from Pope Gregory I known as the Epistola ad Mellitum, preserved in a later work by the medieval chronicler Bede, which suggested the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons be undertaken gradually, integrating pagan rituals and customs.” — Wikipedia
- Nicholas I Saint“He is the second of the three Popes listed in the Annuario Pontificio with the title "the Great", alongside Popes Leo I and Nicholas I.” — Wikipedia
- Paterius Saint“He is known as a compiler, in particular of works of Pope Gregory I, for whom he had worked as a notary.” — Wikipedia
- Paulinus of York Saint“Gregory regained papal authority in Spain and France and sent missionaries to England, including Augustine of Canterbury and Paulinus of York.” — Wikipedia
- Peter of Canterbury Saint“Augustine sent Peter as an emissary to Rome around 600 to convey news of the mission to Pope Gregory I.” — Wikipedia
- St. Vrtanes I Saint“Gregory I the Illuminator by his wife Miriam and his younger brother was St.” — Wikipedia
- Theorodus of Marseille Saint“In June 591, Theodore and Bishop Virgilius of Arles received a letter from Pope Gregory I informing them that "very many ...” — Wikipedia
- Æthelberht Saint“Bertha's influence may have led to Pope Gregory I's decision to send Augustine as a missionary from Rome.” — Wikipedia
- Vatican News - Saint of the day (Italian): Pope Gregory I
- Pope Benedict XVI, General Audiences of 28 May and 4 June 2008 on St Gregory the Great
- Wikidata Q42827 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Pope Gregory I (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.