Abstract
The word "Great" has justly been attributed to St. Gregory who stands as a dividing mark between the Ancient World and the Middle Ages, and who, undoubtedly, did more than any other one individual to direct the course of European progress and development. Gregory was one of those dominating personalities whose influence was felt not only during the age in which he lived, but also down through the great cycles of time even to the present moment. Not the Catholics alone, but all Christians living in the world today, share in the fruits of his beneficent labors, and therefore owe to Gregory a debt of gratitude which more than thirteen centuries have not effaced, but rather increased. For are not these all descendants of those nations of Europe whose ancestors belonged to the ancient tribes who owe their civilization to Gregory? Gregory has played a prominent part in secular as well as in ecclesiastical history, and the seed of his influence has brought forth a rich harvest. Europe at the close of the sixth century cannot be studied intelligently without surveying the life of the first Mediaeval Pope.