Gregory the Great

Gregory preached seven series of homilies on books, or groups of books, of the Old Testament: on Job, Ezechiel, the Heptateuch, the Prophets, the Books of Kings, Proverbs, and the Song of Songs. The homilies on Job survive in full in his own revision. The homilies on Ezechiel were never completed; h...

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Main Authors: McClure, J, McClure, Judith
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: 1979
Subjects:
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author McClure, J
McClure, Judith
author_facet McClure, J
McClure, Judith
author_sort McClure, J
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description Gregory preached seven series of homilies on books, or groups of books, of the Old Testament: on Job, Ezechiel, the Heptateuch, the Prophets, the Books of Kings, Proverbs, and the Song of Songs. The homilies on Job survive in full in his own revision. The homilies on Ezechiel were never completed; he edited the twenty-two sermons preached, twelve on Ezechiel I:1 - IV:3, and ten on Ezechiel XL, and they survive in the two books of his revision of 601. The remaining series of Old Testament homilies, for the most part, are not extant, but his comments on the first eight verses of the Song of Songs, and on the first sixteen chapters of the first Book of Kings (I Samuel), survive in a recension by Claudius, Abbot of Classis. All of these homilies, with the exception of those on Ezechiel, were preached to the monks of St. Andrew's, Gregory's own foundation, between 579 and 585, when he was <em>apocrisiarius</em> in Constantinople, and 585 and 590, when he was monk and deacon in Rome. The series of Old Testament homilies was revived in 593, again at the request of the St. Andrew's monks, but the pressure of events prevented the completion of the homilies on Ezechiel. Gregory's audience for his monastic homilies was a small, ascetic circle, and most of its members were well know to him; this was a decisive influence on the contents and methods of his exegesis. The <em>Pastoral Rule</em> is best seen as the crystallization of his efforts as exegete around the theme of the episcopal office. As pope he preached a series of Gospel homilies during the liturgy, at first with enthusiasm; but they were abandoned early in 593. Out of the anecdotes from his monastic experience contained in them grew the <em>Dialogues</em>, written at the request of his monks for the purpose of spiritual encouragement.
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spelling oxford-uuid:4dc0bbd4-4fc0-481d-87a4-84aabaaef7d42024-12-08T11:17:25ZGregory the GreatThesishttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_db06uuid:4dc0bbd4-4fc0-481d-87a4-84aabaaef7d4Fathers of the churchEnglishPolonsky Theses Digitisation Project1979McClure, JMcClure, JudithGregory preached seven series of homilies on books, or groups of books, of the Old Testament: on Job, Ezechiel, the Heptateuch, the Prophets, the Books of Kings, Proverbs, and the Song of Songs. The homilies on Job survive in full in his own revision. The homilies on Ezechiel were never completed; he edited the twenty-two sermons preached, twelve on Ezechiel I:1 - IV:3, and ten on Ezechiel XL, and they survive in the two books of his revision of 601. The remaining series of Old Testament homilies, for the most part, are not extant, but his comments on the first eight verses of the Song of Songs, and on the first sixteen chapters of the first Book of Kings (I Samuel), survive in a recension by Claudius, Abbot of Classis. All of these homilies, with the exception of those on Ezechiel, were preached to the monks of St. Andrew's, Gregory's own foundation, between 579 and 585, when he was <em>apocrisiarius</em> in Constantinople, and 585 and 590, when he was monk and deacon in Rome. The series of Old Testament homilies was revived in 593, again at the request of the St. Andrew's monks, but the pressure of events prevented the completion of the homilies on Ezechiel. Gregory's audience for his monastic homilies was a small, ascetic circle, and most of its members were well know to him; this was a decisive influence on the contents and methods of his exegesis. The <em>Pastoral Rule</em> is best seen as the crystallization of his efforts as exegete around the theme of the episcopal office. As pope he preached a series of Gospel homilies during the liturgy, at first with enthusiasm; but they were abandoned early in 593. Out of the anecdotes from his monastic experience contained in them grew the <em>Dialogues</em>, written at the request of his monks for the purpose of spiritual encouragement.
spellingShingle Fathers of the church
McClure, J
McClure, Judith
Gregory the Great
title Gregory the Great
title_full Gregory the Great
title_fullStr Gregory the Great
title_full_unstemmed Gregory the Great
title_short Gregory the Great
title_sort gregory the great
topic Fathers of the church
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