Voices and influences
Gregory the Dialogist
The Roman prefect who became a monk, then a reluctant pope, and taught the Middle Ages how to care for souls.
Summary
This site quotes Gregory the Dialogist 628 times across 33 books, and lists 0 works.
- Lived died 604.
- Quoted here most in Job: 384 of 628.
Gregory the Dialogist
- Lived
- died 604
- Tradition
- Patristic
5 of 628 quotations
Own words
Quoted in full, because Gregory the Dialogist died in 604 and these works are out of copyright. Each citation below names its edition and its year. A citation naming a modernised text means that edition makes its own editorial changes, and that edition's terms are not in this site's record.
Kish, who is called harsh, signifies not only his elect, but also the Redeemer himself. For no one was harsher toward himself than he.
The rest of the quotation
For the prophet, indicating the severity of this harshness, says: "Truly he himself bore our infirmities, and he himself carried our sorrows" (Isa. 53:4). For to die is not to suffer for mortals, who are subject to the suffering of a condemned nature.
1 Samuel 9:3 One day the donkeys of Saul’s father Kish wandered off, and Kish said to his son Saul, “Take one of the servants and go look for the donkeys.” BSB
There follows: "But as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you." 15.
The rest of the quotation
He speaks these things, to whom the Lord said above concerning those to whom he speaks: "They have not rejected you, but me, that I should not reign over them." Behold, the prophet is rejected, and he speaks to those who reject him, saying: "Far be it from me that I should commit this sin against the Lord, that I should cease to pray for you."
1 Samuel 12:23 As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you. And I will continue to teach you the good and right way. BSB
When long afterward David sat against the battle lines of enemies, he wished from desire to drink water from the cistern of Bethlehem. His chosen soldiers, breaking through the midst of the opposing forces, brought back unharmed the water the king had desired.
The rest of the quotation
But the man instructed by scourges immediately reproached himself for having desired water at the peril of his soldiers, and pouring it out, he offered it to the Lord, as it is written there: He poured it out to the Lord.
2 Samuel 23:16 So the three mighty men broke through the Philistine camp, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem, and brought it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out to the LORD, BSB
Behold, His servants are not stedfast, and in His Angels He found folly: How much more in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which shall be consumed as by the moth?
The rest of the quotation
Though the Angelical nature, by being fixed in contemplation of the Creator, remains unchangeable in its own state, yet hereby, that it is a created being, it admits in itself the variableness of change. Now to be changed is to go from one thing into another, and to be without stability in one's self.
Job 4:18–19 If God puts no trust in His servants, and He charges His angels with error, how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who can be crushed like a moth! BSB
MORAL INTERPRETATION. But he shall save the poor from the sword of their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty. For the 'poor' is everyone that is not set up in his own eyes.
The rest of the quotation
And hence 'Truth' saith in the Gospel, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Now a person is drawn into sin in two ways. For either he is led on by pleasure, or overcome by fear. For 'the sword of the mouth' is the mischievousness of persuasion, but 'the hand of the mighty' is the opposition of power.
Job 5:15 He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth and from the clutches of the powerful. BSB
Influence, on the record
This site quotes Gregory the Dialogist 628 times across 33 books.
This site’s own count of what it does with the voice
The life, in order
The life told as one accountfrom this site's record
Gregory was born in Rome about 540, into an old senatorial family with money and land. The Rome he grew up in was a wreck. Plague came through in waves. The Lombards were burning their way down the peninsula. A city that had once held a million people was down to a few tens of thousands, camped among ruins it could no longer repair. About 573 he became prefect of the city — the highest civil office left in Rome. Then he walked away from it. He turned the family mansion on the Caelian Hill into a monastery of St. Andrew and used the family estates in Sicily to found six more. He later said those were the happiest years of his life. He was pulled back out. For roughly six years he served as the pope's representative at the imperial court in Constantinople, learning how empires actually work. He came home to Rome, and in 590 plague killed Pope Pelagius II. The city elected Gregory. He tried to refuse. He called the office a burden and began signing his letters servus servorum Dei — servant of the servants of God. Popes still use the title. He governed like a man who expected no help. He fed Rome out of the church's own estates, kept careful accounts of grain and the poor who received it, and negotiated peace with the Lombard king Agilulf when the emperor in Constantinople would not. In 596 he sent the monk Augustine and about forty companions to convert the English. Bede preserved the story behind it: Gregory seeing fair-haired boys for sale in the Roman market and asking who they were. Angles, he was told. Not Angles but angels, he answered. He wrote the Pastoral Rule, a short and practical book on how a pastor should live and how differently he must speak to the proud man and the frightened one. It became the standard handbook for bishops for a thousand years; King Alfred had it put into English. His Moralia on Job, thirty-five books long, was the most-copied commentary of the early Middle Ages. His Dialogues — four books of stories about Italian holy men, including the only life we have of Benedict — gave him his Eastern name. In Greek churches he is Gregory the Dialogist, and the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is called by his name. He was ill for most of his working life: gout, and a stomach complaint that often kept him off his feet. He wrote about it plainly in his letters. He died on 12 March 604. Sources: Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People; Gregory the Great, Pastoral Rule and Dialogues; Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, vol. IV; The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913).
628 quotations across 33 books
Where this voice is quoted
but no stranger had to lodge on the street, for my door has been open to the traveler—
“The stranger did not lodge in the street; but my door was open to the traveller. Whereas, Paul being witness, charity is described as patient and kind, by patience it bears with composure the ill turns of others, by kindness it also renders with mercifulness…”
(Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my signature. Let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser compose an indictment.
“Who would give me a helper that the Almighty might hear my desire. The holy man after he related so many high achievements of the virtues in him, knowing well that he cannot attain to the things on high by his own deserts, seeks for…”
Surely I would carry it on my shoulder and wear it like a crown.
“That I might bear it upon my shoulder, and put it round me like a crown. To 'bear the book upon the shoulder,' is by practising to carry out Holy Scripture.”
if my land cries out against me and its furrows weep together,
“Let us hear what is said in the voice of blessed Job: If my land cries out against me, and its furrows weep together with it, if I have eaten its fruits without payment.”
if I have devoured its produce without payment or broken the spirit of its tenants,
“If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have afflicted the soul of the tillers thereof. [ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION] For to 'eat the fruit of the land without money' is to receive indeed our charges from the Church, but not to yield to that…”
So these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.
“These three men ceased to answer Job, because he seemed just in his own eyes. In the expression, because he seemed to be just in his own eyes, the author of this sacred history intended to refer to the opinion of Job's friends, and did…”
Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because the others were older than he.
“Elihu therefore waited while Job was speaking, because they who were speaking were his elders. But when he had seen that the three were not able to answer, he was very wroth.”
So Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite declared: “I am young in years, while you are old; that is why I was timid and afraid to tell you what I…
“And Eliu the son of Barachel, the Buzite, answered and said, I am younger in age, but ye are more ancient. I therefore held down my head, and feared to shew you my opinion.”
But there is a spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding.
“But, as I see, there is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth understanding. He would be right in saying this, did he not arrogate to himself this same wisdom above all others.”
I too will answer; yes, I will declare what I know.
“I will also answer my part, and I will display my knowledge. For every proud man considers this to be his part, if he does not so much possess, as make a show of, knowledge.”
For I am full of words, and my spirit within me compels me. Behold, my belly is like unvented wine; it is about to burst like a new wineskin.
“I am full of words, the spirit of my womb constraineth me. Behold, my belly is as new wine without a vent, which bursts in sunder new vessels. I will speak, and will take breath awhile; I will open my lips and answer.”
I will be partial to no one, nor will I flatter any man. For I do not know how to flatter, or my Maker would remove me in an instant.
“I will not accept the person of man, I will not equal God to man; for I know not how long I shall continue, or whether after a while my Maker may take me away.”
“But now, O Job, hear my speech, and listen to all my words. Behold, I will open my mouth; my address is on the tip of my tongue.
“Wherefore, Job, hear my speeches, and hearken to all my words. Behold, I have opened my mouth; let my tongue speak in my throat.”
My words are from an upright heart, and my lips speak sincerely what I know.
“My words are from my simple heart, and my lips shall speak a pure sentence. To say that speech is simple, is a praise of great weight.”
The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
“The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life. Intending to subjoin truth, he first uttered boastful words, and being about to state the sound opinions he held, he first made known how huge was his swelling.”
I am just like you before God; I was also formed from clay. Surely no fear of me should terrify you; nor will my hand be heavy upon you.
“Behold, God made me as well as thee, and I am also formed of the same clay; yet let not my wonder terrify thee, and my eloquence be burdensome to thee.”
Behold, you are not right in this matter. I will answer you, for God is greater than man.
“This is the thing then in which thou art not justified. I will answer thee, that God is greater than man. Blessed Job had indeed truly said, that he had been scourged without any fault.”
In a dream, in a vision in the night, when deep sleep falls upon men as they slumber on their beds,
“In a dream, in a vision of the night, when sleep falleth upon men, and they sleep on their bed.”
to turn a man from wrongdoing and keep him from pride,
“That He may withdraw man from the things that he has done, and may deliver him from pride. For what has man done of himself but sin? And it is written, Pride is the beginning of all sin.”
to preserve his soul from the Pit and his life from perishing by the sword.
“Rescuing his soul from corruption, and his life from passing to the sword. For every sinner, in consequence of his corruption by sin here, is compelled to pass thither to the sword of punishment; that he may be justly punished in that world, by the…”
A man is also chastened on his bed with pain and constant distress in his bones,
“He chastens him also with pain upon his bed, and makes all his bones to waste away. By bed, or pallet, or couch in holy Scripture, is understood, sometimes carnal pleasure, sometimes a resting in good works, sometimes temporal rest; for what is meant by…”
He draws near to the Pit, and his life to the messengers of death.
“His soul shall draw near to corruption, and his life to the destroyers. For the soul of every just man when tempted is said to draw near to corruption, when, for fear his virtue should elate him, he is compelled by the rod to feel…”
Yet if there is a messenger on his side, one mediator in a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him, to be gracious to him and say…
“If there shall be an Angel, speaking for him one of like things to shew the righteousness of man, he will pity him. For who is this Angel, but He who is called by the Prophet, The Angel of mighty counsel? [Is. 9, 6. lxx.]”
then his flesh is refreshed like a child’s; he returns to the days of his youth.
“His flesh is consumed by punishments, let him return to the days of his youth. For when that first man fell from God, we were driven from the joys of Paradise, and were involved in the miseries of this mortal life; [Gen. 3, 23. 24.]”
He prays to God and finds favor; he sees God’s face and shouts for joy, and God restores His righteousness to that man.
“He shall pray unto God, and He will be favourable unto him. He says that the Messenger implores first, and man afterwards; for did not the Lord first intercede with the Father through His Incarnation, and pray for our life, our insensibility would never rouse…”