In this article we discuss Pope Gregory's influence on not only the Church, but on the world, its governments, its rules of behavior, and much m ore, extended far beyond his lifetime.
God's children were suffering!
We want to share a little of what was going on in the world of the 5th Century. The world was in a turmoil!
This was the beginning of the end of the Western emperors. The collapse of the Roman empire begins with Italy being taken over by one barbarian army placing Italy under the thumb of the Eastern emperors of Constantinople, only to be invaded and ravaged by another barbarian, the Ostrogoth Theodoric, who would rule Italy from Rome, from 493, until his death in 526.
Never leaving us alone, into this topsy-turvy world, God sent us a future Saint, whose voice would ring strong down through the ages, summoning God's children to pray and believe in the One True Triune God, Who is with us; Who loves us; Who we can trust.
This future Saint, God was raising up, who was destined to be one of the most powerful Popes the world would know, was sent to strengthen the Church He had founded, to guide His most precious lambs that they not wander and get devoured by wolves.
A child was born, preordained to serve Mother Church, from a family who had given the Church two Popes preceding him in his family's history - a blessed, awesome ancestry, worthy of one who would be called to fill the Chair of Peter.
Pope Gregory composed the calendar of festivals.
For his most extraordinary life, his numerous writings and encyclicals, he is venerated as the fourth Doctor of the Church.
Among his many achievements, he is credited with, the Antiphonary, the introduction to new styles in church music the composition of several famous hymns, and the creation of the Schola Cantorum, the famous training school for singers. Worthy of his title, Pope St. Gregory the Great worked tirelessly, right until the Angel of Death summoned him Home.
The Gregorian Sacramentary and the Gregorian chant, according to John the Deacon, whose testimony is most reliable, what we call Gregorian Chant today is definitely attributed to Pope St.Gregory the Great. This type of chanting has been used for centuries up to and including today.
Going back before St. Gregory, it was called Roman Chant, and even Ambrosian chant.
But St. Gregory put it together in a formalized Church Chant.