Commemoration Day: March 12 (25)
Biography
St. Gregory the Great (c. 540 – 604), called in the Orthodox Church the Dialogist, came from a noble Roman family and in his youth was prefect of Rome. Having given away his property, he founded monasteries and himself became a monk. He served as the papal representative (apocrisiarius) in Constantinople, and in 590 he was elected bishop of Rome.
He cared for the poor and the suffering, defended Rome during the Lombard invasions, and sent missionaries to the Anglo-Saxons in Britain. He is the author of the "Book of Pastoral Rule" on the duties of a bishop, the "Dialogues" on the lives and miracles of the Italian saints (from which his name the Dialogist derives), homilies on the Gospels and on Ezekiel, the "Moralia" on the book of Job, and numerous letters.
The Orthodox Church attributes to him the composition of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, which is served on the weekdays of Great Lent.