Thursday, September 3, 2026

It is the 3rd of September 2026. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

 

It might surprise you that on the Lutheran Church calendar for Commemorations (aka “Saints Days”) there is a Pope. Of course, along with the Anglicans who also recognize this Pope, he is not called Pope but rather “pastor” by the Lutherans and “bishop” by the Anglicans. Whatever you call him, it’s not hard for old Pastor Greg or Bishop Gregory to be noted as “The Great”. He was Gregory the Great, made Bishop of Rome on this day in 590.

Why “the Great” and why so regarded by Christians across denominational lines? Let’s tell the story.

By the time Gregory was born into a Roman Patrician family in about 540, the old Empire had fallen. Well, it had moved East to Constantinople. Rome itself was in ruins. Consider a population of the “eternal city” in 400 to be at about 800,000. By 500 it had dwindled to 100,000, and amidst the Gothic wars of that century it had fallen to about 30,000.

Gregory, whose lineage included government officials and Bishops of Rome, was a patrician in the city, but by his mid-30s had grown weary of the world. He wrote, “the world grows old and hoary… and hastens to approaching death”. He resigned his office, turned some of his family’s land into a monastery, and became a monk.

Pope Pelagius II would, however, call him into service; he was ordained a deacon and sent to Constantinople as the Bishop’s mouthpiece. He would return home around 585, where he was made Abbot of his former home and worked with Pelagius during a time of great stress- from weather and famine as well as the Lombard invasions. During this time Gregory became known as a great preacher and exegete of Scripture. In 590 Pelagius died from the plague, and Gregory would be elected to take his place.

Gregory began to reorganize the Roman relief system, took special care to tend to the poor, and wrote his Pastoral Rule. This is one of the great texts of the early Middle Ages- it was a manual for bishops and pastors on how to lead and preach. He referred to himself as the Bishop of Rome as the “Servant of the Servants of God”. Hagiography had him dine daily with the poor. His sermons are practical and humble.

Politically, he helped settle a peace agreement with the Lombards and cultivated a relationship with a Lombard queen who was Catholic- her son, a future king, would be baptized, and this would be part of the story of the eventual Lombard inclusion with the Christian West.

He not only managed to establish a modicum of independence from Constantinople to the East; he took an interest in the people of the former Roman colony in the British Isles. The famous story told by Bede is that he saw fair-haired Boys at court and inquired who they were. He was told “Angles,” and he replied, “No, they are Angels of God.” It was Gregory who would find a suitable Roman monk- Augustine (but not the famous one from Hippo) and send him to evangelize the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Kent. Augustine of Canterbury (as he would be known) would forge the links between England and Rome that would be of such consequence for centuries to come. Besides his Pastoral Rule and homilies, he would also produce his famous “Dialogues”. This 4-book collection is a kind of “lives of saints” with the entire second book devoted to Benedict of Nursia. The Benedictine and western monastic tradition was further strengthened. And it would make sense; Gregory was the first Pope, or Bishop of Rome, to be a monk.

His pastoral leadership, the survival of Rome, his diplomacy and missionary expansion make him a foundational character for the Western church- not only remembered today by Christians across dividing lines, but as the 4th and final “Doctor” of the church along with Ambrose, Jerome and Augustine of Hippo.

His fingerprints on the institution are so widespread that even an 8th-century musical tradition- monophonic text-based chant used in worship… the so-called “Gregorian Chant” would be named after him. To call him the first “Medieval Pope” might give too much credit to Medieval Popes (or, so says this Protestant), but as a key figure in the life of the church, we can commemorate him- Pastor Greg, Bishop Gregory, Pope Gregory took the office on this, the 3rd of September in 590.

 

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary- the penultimate Psalm, 149

1 Praise the Lord.

Sing to the Lord a new song,
 his praise in the assembly of his faithful people.

2 Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;
 let the people of Zion be glad in their King.

3 Let them praise his name with dancing
 and make music to him with timbrel and harp.

4 For the Lord takes delight in his people;
 he crowns the humble with victory.

5 Let his faithful people rejoice in this honor
 and sing for joy on their beds.

6 May the praise of God be in their mouths
 and a double-edged sword in their hands,

7 to inflict vengeance on the nations
 and punishment on the peoples,

8 to bind their kings with fetters,
 their nobles with shackles of iron,

9 to carry out the sentence written against them—
 this is the glory of all his faithful people.

Praise the Lord.

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 3rd of September 2026 brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by the pastor, bishop, archbishop, and Pope of Random Lake; he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who no joke or pun… just sit with that Psalm a bit… amazing stuff… I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.