St. Gregory the Great

• St. Gregory the Great (540-604 CE) was Pope Gregory I who held office between September 590 and 604 CE.
• He is one of the four Great Church Fathers of Christianity. The unaccompanied singing in the Roman Catholic Church, called Gregorian Chant, is named after him.

Britain

• In 596 CE, Pope Gregory I sent the Gregorian Mission to England to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity.
• He sent Augustine who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury, with Paulinus who became the Bishop of York.

Gaul and Spain

• Pope Gregory I re-established the authority of the Roman Catholic Church in Gaul and Spain.
• He managed to realign the Franks, Lombards and Visigoths away from Arianism and back towards Rome.

North Africa

• Pope Gregory I argued with some success against Donatism, which was popular in North Africa.

Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts

• A Liturgy used for Lent, which is considered to have been written by Pope Gregory I, is still in use by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches.

Gregorian Chant

• The main body of chants used in the Western Church is considered to have been formulated by Pope Gregory I.

Works

• Commentary on Job
• Pastoral Care
• Dialogues
• Sermons