(Updated July 12, 2025)
This Quote Archive collects pertinent quotes from the Church Father, St. Pope Gregory the Great.
Next to each quote are the topic-based Quote Archives in which they are included.
This Quote Archive is being continuously updated as research continues.
Books
St. Pope Gregory the Great, Moralia on Job (c. 578-95)
- Development of Doctrine | Book 27, Ch. 8, §14
(Book 27, Ch. 8, §14)1
The stars of rain can also be understood as the holy apostles, about whom Jeremiah says to rejected Judea as follows: “The stars and the rain have been withheld, and the later rain has not fallen” (Jer. 3:3). The Lord then removed the stars for the rain and poured down rain to double a flood, because when he took the preaching apostles away from Judea, he irrigated the world with the teaching of new grace. That both of these acts happened in the church can be advantageously understood in that when the apostles’ bodies were done away with and their souls were removed to the secret bosom of heaven, it was as though God hid the stars of rain from the face of the sky. But when the stars of rain were 254 | 255 taken away, God sent rain like a flood, because with even the apostles removed to heaven, the flood of divine knowledge that long lay hidden was revealed with more abundant outpouring through the opened tongues of the followers of the apostles.
What the apostles, you see, spoke briefly, their followers in their expositions expanded and multiplied. So it is not without reason that the very preaching and exposition should be compared to a flood, because since they collect the words of their many predecessors, they themselves grow more profoundly by means of the words that they pass on. At the same time as they join testimony to testimony, it is as though they collected drops of water to make a flood. The Gentiles are daily taught with these words, and because the minds of sinners receive knowledge of heaven, it is as though the standing water on the ground exhibited floods. But these expositors never exhibit themselves as superior to the apostles in knowledge when they speak at length in their exposition. They ought, you see, always to remember through whom they have received the discoveries of their knowledge.
St. Pope Gregory the Great, Dialogues (c. 593)2
- Purgatory | Book 4, §§41-42, 57 62
(Book 4, §§41-42, 57 62)
Peter:
I should like to know if we have to believe in a cleansing fire after death.
Gregory:
(§41) In the Gospel our Lord says, “Finish your journey while you still have the light” (John 12:35). And in the words of the 247 | 248 Prophet He declares, “In an acceptable time I have heard thee, and in the day of salvation I have helped thee” (Isa. 49:8). St. Paul’s comment on this is: “And here is the time of pardon; the day of salvation has come already” (2 Cor. 6:2). Solomon, too, says, “Anything you can turn your hand to, do with what power you have; for there will be no work, nor reason, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the nether world where you are going” (Sir. 9:10). And David adds, “For his mercy endures forever” (Ps. 117:1). From these quotations it is clear that each one will be presented to the Judge exactly as he was when he departed this life. Yet, there must be a cleansing fire before judgment, because of some minor faults that may remain to be purged away. Does not Christ, the Truth, say that if anyone blasphemes against the Holy Spirit he shall not be forgiven “either in this world or in the world to come” (Matt. 12:32)? From this statement we learn that some sins can be forgiven in this world and some in the world to come. For, if forgiveness is refused for a particular sin, we conclude logically that it is granted for others. This must apply, as I said, to slight transgressions…All these faults are troublesome for the soul after death if they are not forgiven while one is still alive. For, when St. Paul says that Christ is the foundation, he adds: “But on this foundation different men will build in 248 | 249 gold, silver, precious stones, wood, grass, or straw…and fire will test the quality of each man’s workmanship. He will receive a reward, if the building he had added on stands firm! If it is burnt up, he will be the loser; and yet he himself will be saved, though only as men are saved by passing through fire” (1 Cor. 3:12-15)…
(§42) When I was still a young layman, I heard my elders and men acquainted with the circumstances tell of Paschasius, a deacon of the Apostolic See. His highly orthodox and brilliantly written books on the Holy Spirit are still read. He was a man of outstanding sanctity and very zealous in the practice of almsgiving. His kindness to the poor was remarkable, while for himself he had nothing but contempt. In the dispute over the papacy between the parties of Symmachus and Lawrence, which was accompanied by the excitement of popular demonstrations, he cast his vote for Lawrence. Even though Symmachus was later on accepted 249 | 250 unanimously by both parties, Paschasius would not change his affiliation, but to the end of his life reserved his devotion and respect for Lawrence, the man whom the Church by the judgment of her bishops had refused to set up as her head.
Paschasius died during the reign of Pope Symmachus. A possessed person touched his dalmatic, which had been laid on the coffin, and was instantly cured. A long time afterward, Germanus, Bishop of Capua, whom I have already mentioned, came to the baths of Angulus at his doctor’s advice. As he entered the hot baths, he found the deacon Paschasius standing there as an attendant. Germanus was shocked and asked what a man of his dignity was doing in such a place. “The only reason I am serving here,” the deacon answered, “is that I endorsed the party of Lawrence against Symmachus. But I beg you, pray for me to the Lord. When you come back and no longer find me here, you will know that your prayers have been heard.”
Germanus, therefore, gave himself to fervent prayer, and, when he returned a few days later, Paschasius no longer appeared. This purification from sin after death was possible because the deacon had sinned through ignorance, and not through malice. What we are to believe is that through his previous almsdeeds he obtained the grace of receiving forgiveness at a time when he was no longer able to do meritorious works… 250 | 266(§57) Peter:
Is there anything at all that can possibly benefit souls after death?
Gregory:
The holy Sacrifice of Christ, our saving Victim, brings great benefits to souls even after death, provided their sins can be pardoned in the life to come. For this reason the souls of the dead sometimes beg to have Masses offered for them.
Bishop Felix, whom I mentioned above, said that he had been told of such a case by a saintly priest who was still living two years ago in the diocese of Centum Cellae, a pastor of the Church of St. John in Tauriana. This priest used to bathe in the hot springs of Tauriana whenever his health required. One day, as he entered the baths, he found a stranger there who showed himself most helpful in every way possible, by unlatching his shoes, taking care of his clothes, and furnishing him towels after the hot bath.
After several experiences of this kind, the priest said to himself: ‘It would be not do for me to appear ungrateful to this man who is so devoted in his kind services to me. I must reward him in some way.’ So one day he took along two crown-shaped loaves of bread to give him.
When he arrived at the place, the man was already waiting for him and rendered the same services he had before. After the bath, when the priest was again fully dressed and ready to leave, he offered the man the present of bread, asking him kindly to accept it as a blessing, for it was offered as 266 | 267 a token of charity. But the man sighed mournfully and said, “Why do you give it to me, Father? That bread is holy and I cannot eat it. I who stand before you was once the owner of this place. It is because of my sins that I was sent back here as a servant. If you wish to do something for me, then offer this bread to almighty God, and so make intercession for me, a sinner. When you come back and do not find me here, you will know that your prayers have been heard.” With these words he disappeared, thus showing that he was a spirit disguised as a man. The priest spent the entire week in prayer and tearful supplications, offering Mass for him daily. When he returned to the bath, the man was no longer to be found. This incident points out the great benefits souls derive from the Sacrifice of the Mass. Because of these benefits the dead ask us, the living, to have Masses offered for them, and even show us by signs that it was through the Mass that they were pardoned… 267 | 274
(§62) …This parable [Matt. 18:32-35] shows us that, if we do not sincerely forgive injuries, we shall have to give a second account of the sins for which we have already done penance and experienced 274 | 275 the joy of forgiveness. So, while we are enjoying days of grace, while our Judge holds off the sentence, and the Examiner of our sins awaits our conversion, let us soften our hardened hearts with tears and practice charity and kindness toward our neighbor. Then we can be sure that, if we offered ourselves during life as victims to God, we will not need to have the saving Victim offered for us [the Eucharist] after death.
Letters
St. Pope Gregory the Great, Book 8, Letter 2: To Anastasius, Bishop of Antioch Bishop of Antioch
Moreover, there is this by the great favor of Almighty God; that among those who are divided from the doctrine of Holy Church there is no unity, since every kingdom divided against itself shall not stand [Matt. 12:25; Mark 3:24; Luke 11:17]. And holy Church is always more thoroughly equipped in her teaching when assaulted by the questionings of heretics; so that what was said by the Psalmist concerning God against heretics is fulfilled, “They are divided from the wrath of his countenance, and his heart has drawn near” (Ps. 50:20-21). For while they are divided in their wicked error, God brings His heart near to us, because, being taught by contradictions, we more thoroughly learn to understand Him.
Footnotes
- St. Pope Gregory the Great, Brian Kerns, OCSO, trans., Cistercian Studies, Vol. 260: Gregory the Great, Moral Reflections on the Book of Job, Volume 5, Books 23-27 (Athens, OH: Cistercian Publications, 2019), 254-55. ↩︎
- St. Pope Gregory the Great, Odo John Zimmerman, trans., The Fathers of the Church, Vol. 39: St. Gregory the Great, Dialogues (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2002), 247-50, 266-67, 274-75. ↩︎
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