PRAYER FOR VICTIMS OF FLOODING
Compassionate God, source of all comfort, we pray for the people whose lives have been devastated by rain and flood. Bring them comfort, we pray.
Most merciful and compassionate God, giver of life and love, hear our prayers. Let our cries come to You. We weep with Your people affected by these floods. We hear the cries of orphaned children and the laments of bereaved parents. We feel the desperation of those searching for loved ones. We behold the silence of destroyed neighborhoods and villages and towns. We see the devastation. We are overwhelmed by the enormity of it all. Our hearts are hushed, our minds are numb. Let not our hands be stopped, or our voices be mute.
God of the universe, open our hearts to feel your compassion. Protect the vulnerable. Strengthen the weak. Keep at bay the spread of disease. Have mercy on all those working to rescue the stranded and to feed the hungry. Comfort and heal the injured, the bereaved, the lost. Bolster the resolve of governments and those in power to help. Open, through these tragedies, pathways to partnerships and peace. Make our response to Your people’s suffering be generous and bring You praise.
In Your Name of mercy and healing and compassion, we pray. Amen.
ST. GREGORY THE GREAT
Doctor of the Church (540-604)
Pope St. Gregory the Great was born around the year 540 in the city of Rome. His father was a wealthy aristocrat who owned a large estate. His family was devout, and his mother (Silvia) and two sisters (Tarsilla and Emiliana) also are saints.
At the time of Gregory’s birth, the city of Rome was already in decline, having been sacked by Alaric and the Visigoths in 410; and Genseric and the Vandals in 455. Adding to the decline was that many Roman structures were damaged by a powerful earthquake in 443 and were never repaired.
Even amid this turmoil, Gregory received the best possible education and became quite distinguished. By 568, Gregory had been named the Prefect of the City, the highest civil office in the city. He was only 28 years old. By 574, he decided to retire from public life and to pursue a religious vocation. He converted his childhood home into a monastery following the Rule of St. Benedict and placed the monastery under the patronage of St. Andrew.
As a monk, Gregory dedicated himself to serious ascetic practices of fasting and penance. In 578, over Gregory’s protests, Pope Benedict I ordained him as one of the seven deacons of the City of Rome. This was a major office in the city as, at this time, the deacons were responsible for matters of civil order, charitable care, and even the defense of the city against various barbarian invasions.
These invasions were increasing in their frequency and ferocity. In an appeal for aid, the new Pope, Pelagius II dispatched a special delegation to the Emperor Tiberius in Constantinople. Gregory accompanied this delegation as the papal Apocrisiarius (permanent ambassador) to the Byzantine court. Gregory was to remain in Constantinople for the next six years (579-586). It was while he was in Constantinople that he began his famous commentary on the Book of Job.
In 586 Gregory was recalled to Rome and returned to St. Andrew’s monastery where he was soon elected abbot. At about this time Gregory first encountered some men and boys from England and began a life-long concern for the English people. A great desire arose within him to go and preach the Gospel to the people of England, and he petitioned Pope Pelagius II for permission to go. His request was granted, and Gregory set off with a band of monks from St. Andrew’s. The people of Rome, however, demanded that Gregory turn back and threatened to retrieve him with force should it be necessary. Gregory relented and returned to Rome, but his desire that the Gospel be preached to England remained so deep within him that later he would commission the great mission of St. Augustine of Canterbury to preach the Gospel to the English. But that is later in this story.
In the year 589 several plagues, a lost harvest, and a series of severe floods beset the City of Rome. In 590 this series of disasters was crowned with the death of Pope Pelagius II. At this time, the election of the pope was undertaken by the clergy and the citizens of Rome. Gregory was unanimously elected. Gregory, however, had no desire to be pope and even less desire to leave the peace of the cloister of St. Andrew’s monastery, so he wrote to the Emperor Maurice asking him not to confirm the election.
While waiting for the emperor’s reply, Gregory was nevertheless responsible for the welfare of the city of Rome. As the plague that had killed Pope Pelagius II was still raging, Gregory ordered that there be a great procession of the people of Rome to do penance, beg pardon from God, and pray for the end of the plague. As a result, seven simultaneous immense processions wound through the streets of Rome and converged on the Basilica of St. Mary Major on the Esquiline Hill. Gregory preached throughout and urged on the people’s devotion. A short time later, the plague subsided.
After waiting six months, the Emperor’s reply finally came: Gregory was confirmed as pope. Although he contemplated fleeing, he did not, and the people seized upon him and carried him into St. Peter’s Basilica where he was consecrated pope on September 3, 590.
Gregory was to reign as pope for fourteen years. In his governance, he was strict and uncompromising, readily deposing those whom he found to be unfit. His zeal extended to his preaching and several of his homilies have come down to us today.
From the very moment of his consecration, Gregory was faced with the threat of yet another invasion of Rome, this time from Lombard. In 593 Pope Gregory left the city to personally intervene with the invading King Agilulf and negotiated a peace settlement that spared the city.
Pope Gregory was a prolific writer. In 593 he published his Dialogues which was a collection of visions, prophesies, and miracles gathered from eye-witnesses. It was to become one of the most popular books of the Middle Ages and would affect the spiritual lives of many of the faithful. Gregory’s Liber Pastoralis Curae which, for centuries, was the “handbook” of bishops, described their duties and prescribed a manner of life. In this work, Gregory describes the ideal bishop as a “physician of souls” and the “guardian of truth.” Gregory was a prolific correspondent and wrote many letters that are still available today.
Gregory long maintained a determined will to ensure that the Gospel was preached to England. He chastised the bishops of northern France and Germany for neglecting the inhabitants of the islands off their coasts. Pope Gregory dispatched forty monks from his own monastery of St. Andrew under the leadership of St. Augustine of Canterbury. They are revered to this day as the ones who first brought the Gospel to England. The great Englishman, the Venerable Bede (also discussed in this series) says: “If Gregory be not an apostle to others, he is one to us, for we are the seal of his apostleship in the Lord.”
St. Gregory left a deep mark on the liturgy of the Church. He is credited with the revision and rearrangement of the system of church music (Gregorian Chant), the foundation work for all Cantors, the famous Roman Schola Cantorum, and the composition of several hymns. We owe him the rubric that “Alleluia” must be sung before the Gospel throughout the whole year (except during Lent).
Pope Gregory died on March 12, 604. His body was laid to rest in St. Peter’s Basilica. He was canonized at once by popular acclamation and devotion to him has survived to this day.
St. Gregory the Great is patron of educators/teachers, students/scholars, musicians, masons/stonecutters, the West Indies, and he is an intercessor against gout (from which he suffered), fevers and plagues. We celebrate his Feast Day on September 3rd.
May God Bless You and Grant You His Peace!