Care and Chaos (400-750)
Helmet found in the Sutton Hoo ship burial. The tomb is probably that of Raedwald, king of the East Angles, who is mentioned by the Venerable Bede as one of the English "over-kings." He ruled in the early C7th and his tomb dates from the 620's. Raedwald's wealth was impressive: he was buried in a ship along with his armor, weaponry and an startling collection of artifacts representing some of the finest craftmanship and design to have survived from this period.
Gregory the Great: Pastoral Care and Mission in an Age of Disturbance
C1Oth manuscript illumination depicting Pope Gregory the Great (540-604). The subject is a charming legend concerning the Pope's inspiration. Gregory's secretary took down his master's sermons on Ezekiel from behind a curtain. When he became bored by the long silences, he made a hole in the barrier and peeked through. On Gregory's shoulder sat the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, with its beak placed between the Pope's lips. When the dove withdrew his beak, Gregory began dictating again.
Gregory was born into a wealthy Roman family and, before becoming a monk, served as a secular administrator in Rome. Upon inheriting the large family estates, he established seven monastic communities, in one of which he served. Probably whilst the Lombards were besieging Rome in 579, Gregory was sent as Papal ambassador to seek help from the Emperor at Constantinople. He was elected Pope in 590. Gregory's career illustrates the role of Christianity in preserving and transmitting the organizational methods of the Roman world: entering the bureaucratic void threatened by invasion, migration, and scarcity. As Pope, he reformed the running of the papal estates, used his own personal wealth to establish a systematic form of welfare for an increasing population of the impoverished, and undertook political negotiations with Lombard leaders and with the Byzantine Emperor. He was also active in preaching; writing "lives" of Saints, homilies, and biblical commentaries, most famously on the book of Job; guiding clergy in the performance of pastoral care; promoting the Benedictine rule; and establishing missions to the Germanic tribes.
Pastoral Care
Gregory's most widely read work was the Pastoral Care, a handbook of advice on the cure of souls. In its influence, this is comparable to Augustine's On Christian Doctrine. As the extract below shows, Gregory stressed a nuanced approach to pastoral care and discipline, one that respected individual circumstances and difference. Gregory's advice is informed by the same sense for moderation and balance that is found in the Benedictine Rule he admired. His simple, direct style and careful repetitions suggest his awareness of declining educational standards, even amongst the clergy. Gregory wrote for leaders who needed an instructional handbook and who, for the most part, lacked the aptitude or training for independent thought.
from Pastoral Care
The final paragraph of his extract is a good illustration of the "tropological" or "moral" interpretation of Scripture: Gregory discovers, in an Old Testament text, a figurative meaning that yields moral guidance.
It should also be observed that at times the faults of subjects must be prudently overlooked, but they should be given to understand that they are being overlooked Sometimes even what is openly known should be judiciously tolerated, while in other cases even hidden faults must be subjected to a close scrutiny; and, as the case may be, they should be either gently reproved or sharply censured.
Some things are, as we have said, to be prudently connived at, but the connivance indicated, so that when the delinquent sees that he has been discovered and tolerated - he may be ashamed to augment the faults which he realises are tolerated in silence, and may punish himself in being his own judge, when the patience of the ruler mercifully excuses him. It was with such connivance that the Lord fitly reproved Judea, when He said through the Prophet: Thou hast lied, and hast not been mindful of me, nor thought on me in thy heart. For I am silent and as one that seeth not. He, therefore, both connived at her faults and let her know that He was doing so. He said nothing against the sinner, and yet declared the fact that He had held His peace. For some things, even openly known, are to be judiciously tolerated, when, that is, the occasion is not suitable for public reprehension. For wounds are more inflamed by untimely incisions, and if medicaments do not suit the occasion, it is certain that they do not serve their purpose of healing.
Some things are, however, to be reproved gently. Thus, when sin is committed, not through malice, but through sheer ignorance or frailty, it is then, indeed, necessary to temper reproof of the sin with great forbearance. For, in truth, all of us are subject to the frailties of our corrupt nature so long as we remain in this mortal flesh. Each one, therefore, ought to infer from his own case to what degree he should have mercy on the weakness of others, lest he seem forgetful of his own estate when he violently rushes into reproof of the frailty of his neighbour. Wherefore, Paul admonishes us, saying: If a man be overtaken in any fault, you who are spiritual, instruct such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. It is as though he meant to say in so many words, that when the sight of another's infirmity is displeasing, reflect on what you are, that the spirit may moderate itself in its zeal for reproving, in fearing in its own case that which it reproves.
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Nevertheless, there are some things which are to be reproved severely, so that when a fault is not recognised by the one committing it, he may appreciate its gravity by the verbal reproof or when he glosses over to himself the evil he has done, he may have serious apprehension for himself owing to the asperity of the reproof given.
But, however minutely the ruler indicates these matters, he is not discharging his responsibility for eternity, unless his fervent spirit glows with zeal in opposing the delinquencies of each individual. Wherefore, again, it is rightly added: And take unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city. For by the pan is symbolised a scorching of the mind, and by iron, the hardness of reproof; and what scorches and excruciates the mind of the teacher more than burning zeal for God. Wherefore, Paul was burnt by the frying pan when he said: Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalised, and I am not on fire?" And since the man who is inflamed with zeal for God is fortified by a strong permanent defence, lest he be condemned for negligence, it is rightly said: Set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city. The iron pan is set as an iron wall between the Prophet and the city, when rulers in their office display a vigorous zeal and this zeal serves them as a strong fortification between themselves and their hearers; thus they do not become bereft of the power of punishing, which would be the case if they were remiss in administering reproof.
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But in regard to all these matters, we must bear in mind that when the mind of the teacher is incited to reprove, it is very difficult not to break forth sometimes into expressions that should have been avoided. It commonly happens that when the fault of a subject is corrected with harsh invective, the master is driven to excess in words; and when reproof blazes forth immoderately, the hearts of the sinners fall into dejection and despair Wherefore, it is necessary that an exasperated ruler, on reflecting that he has smitten the mind of subjects more than he should have done, must take stock of himself and perform penance, to obtain pardon in the sight of the Truth by his sorrow, and for the reason, too, that it was through the ardour of his zeal that he sinned.
This is what the Lord enjoins on Moses in a figure - saying: If a man go guilelessly with his friend to the wood to hew timber, and the wood of the axe slipped out of his hand and the iron, slipping from the handle, struck his friend and killed him: he shall flee to one of the cities aforesaid and live, lest perhaps the next kinsman of him whose blood was shed, being under the impulse of his grief, should pursue and apprehend him... and take away his life. Now, we go into a wood with a friend as often as we turn our attention to the sins of subjects; and guilelessly we hew wood when we cut away the faults of sinners with loving intention. But the axe flies from the hand when reproof oversteps itself and degenerates into asperity; and the iron flies from the handle, when the words of reproof are excessively harsh and the friend is struck and killed; that is to say, a contumelious utterance kills the spirit of love in the hearer.
The mind of one reproved breaks out suddenly into hatred, if reproof given taxes it more than is befitting. But he who so carelessly hews wood as to kill his neighbour, must needs flee to the three cities, that in one of them he may live protected; for if he betakes himself to penitential grief and hides himself under hope and charity i~ the unity of the Sacrament, he is not accounted guilty of the homicide which he perpetrated. And the next kinsman, even on finding him does not kill him; for when the strict Judge comes, He who has made Himself one of us by sharing our nature, He undoubtedly does not prefer a charge of guilt against one who is screened by faith, hope, and charity under the shelter of His forgiveness.
Gregory's Life
The earliest extant life of Gregory the Great was written in the early C8th by an Anglo-Saxon monk of the monastery at Whitby. The author delights in the edifying legend and highlights matters of relevance to the English. He also cites Gregory's writngs and the first extract below reflects the Pope's importance as a model of church leadership and the inspiration for a tradition of pastoral wisdom.
from the Anonymous Life of Gregory the Great
Gregory was Roman by nationality, his father being Gordianus and his mother Sylvia; so he was noble in the eyes of the law but nobler still in heart in the sight of God because of his religious life. He lived for a long time in a monastery where, as he himself declares, all transitory affairs were of little importance to his mind. He rose above passing events and accustomed himself to think about nothing but heavenly themes.
We can clearly appreciate from his words, even though only partially and imperfectly, how he reached this state of mind. In the first place these writings bear witness to the fact that he was an honourable representative of the apostolic see in the place which he explicitly states was Constantinople. In these passages he speaks straightforwardly, not indeed boastingly but with his habitual humility, about this matter: "For a long time," he says, "I put far from me the grace of godly living: and even after I had been inspired with heavenly longings, I thought it better to wear the secular habit. For though the way of attaining what I sought in my desire for heavenly things was revealed to me, yet inveterate habits bound me so that I could not change my outer way of life." Then he adds that, because his heart compelled him to serve this present world, his cares were thereby greatly increased. So, eagerly fleeing from all these things, he sought the haven of a monastery and escaped naked from the shipwreck of this life. Thereupon, still making use of this charming yet humble simile, he hastened to add that, just as when a storm arises it drags a carelessly moored ship even from the lee of a sheltering shore, "so," he says, "I suddenly found myself, though wearing the dress of an ecclesiastical order, tossed in the waves of secular cares and losing the peace of the monastery because, when I had it, I did not hang on to it as firmly as I should have done." After this he says he was called upon, being faced with the duty of obedience, to undertake the ministry of the sacred altar. "And after ~ he adds, "unwilling and reluctant though I was, since the ministry of the altar was in itself a heavy load, the weight of pastoral care was added to my burden. And now I endure it with the greater difficulty because I feel myself unequal to it and I have no self-confidence to encourage or refresh me. So," he said, "a little time after I had undertaken the ministry of the altar, it was decided without my knowledge that I should receive the burden of a sacred office. Many of the brethren from my monastery, compelled by brotherly love, followed me. I saw that this had happened by divine dispensation, so that, through their unremitting example, I could bind myself, as it were by an anchor cable, to the calm shores of prayer; while being tossed about by the ceaseless tide of secular business I fled to their fellowship as to the refuge of a safe port from the currents and waves of earthly affairs. And though this office of mine had dragged me from the monastery and, with the distraction of business, had cut me off as with a knife from my former life of quiet, yet by my serious conferences and readings with them, I was daily stirred to a desire for devotion.
The anonymous monk offers us the first recorded account of Gregory's decision to evangelize the English. Bede also offers a version of this story which is, in all likelihood, legendary.
So we must not pass over in silence how, through the Spirit of God and with the incomparable discernment of his inward eye, he foresaw and made provision for our conversion to God. There is a story told by the faithful that, before he became Pope, there came to Rome certain people of our nation, fair-skinned and light-haired. When he heard of their arrival he was eager to see them; being prompted by a fortunate intuition, being puzzled by their new and unusual appearance, and, above all, being inspired by God, he received them and asked what race they belonged to. (Now some say they were beautiful boys, while others say that they were curly-haired, handsome youths.) They answered, "The people we belong to are called Angles." "Angels of God," he replied. Then he asked further, "What is the name of the king of that people?" They said, "Aelli," whereupon he said, "Alleluia, God's praise must be heard there." Then he asked the name of their own tribe, to which they answered, "Deire," and he replied, "They shall flee from the wrath of God to the faith."
The following miracle story reflects the increasing "materialization" of the concept of grace - grace understood less in relational, more in substantial terms, as a tangible power. This is one of the many ways in which Christianity underwent significant change in its acculturation within the Germanic tribes. This extract is followed by a legend rooted in the political context of Lombard invasion.
Having brought these stories to an end, we will follow them up with some which rightly concern us, among whom St. Gregory is famous on account of his holy miracles and through whom Christ also speaks. There is an ancient story that once a certain matron in Rome was making her oblations and had brought them to him; the saint received them and consecrated them into the most holy Body of Christ the Victim. When she came to receive it from the hands of the man of God and heard him say, "The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve thy soul," she began to smile. When the man of God saw this, he closed his hand as it reached her mouth, not wishing to give her the holy Body of the Lord; then he placed it on the altar and decided to hide it with his vestment. When mass was finished, he called her up and asked why she laughed when she should have communicated. She answered, "I made those loaves with my own hands and you said they were the Body of the Lord." Then he at once bade all the people of God in the church to pray together with him that Christ the Son of the living God would deign to show whether the most holy sacrifice was, as he said, truly His Body in order to strengthen the faith of her who did not believe in this sacrament. When he had finished speaking, the saint found that what he had placed on the altar was like the fragment of a little finger and covered with blood. He called the unbelieving woman to behold the marvelous sight and when she saw it she was utterly dumbfounded. Then the saint said, "Now look with bodily eyes on what you were before too blind to see with your spiritual eyes and learn to believe on Him who said, "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, ye have no life in you." He again urged those who were in church to pray that He who deigned to show them the mercy they had asked for, would also deign to change the sacred Body back into its natural form; this they ventured to pray for and also for the lack of faith of the incredulous matron. When they had done as he bade them, he made her communicate, now that she believed Him who said that "he that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in Him."
Among these anecdotes we must not fail to tell this sign of the wisdom and grace of God, even though, as in the rest of these stories, we do not know the full details; amid the many marvelous things he did in which he showed himself to be an exceedingly skilful doctor of souls, it is told how, by a like miracle, he shone forth also as a doctor of the body. Now there was a certain king, I think a king of the Lombards, though I do not clearly remember his race, who was very powerful in war when Gregory was Pope; he marched his army against Rome intending to devastate it. St. Gregory went to meet him and spoke to him before them all and thus, by his unique eloquence and holy instruction, so mollified the King's frenzied spirit that he promised so long as Gregory was Pope in that city and he was King, his nation would never lead an army against them. So, through the agency of the man of God, "The streams of that river made glad the city of God" and in it "He sanctified His tabernacle." God did indeed "help her with His countenance"; so that though "the heathen raged" against the city that was once the mistress of the world, yet through this one man of God the "kingdoms were moved." And not without reason, for "the most High uttered His voice and the earth trembled." Now after this the King was taken ill and in his sickness sent to the Pope; for as a result of Gregory's teaching he had taken the Pope as his mentor. Thereupon when he had learned all about the King's illness from the messengers he ordered that the King should return to the kind of food he had been used to from his infancy and childhood. Now when the King was a boy he had been in the Alps with herdsmen and lived on milky foods. So, in accordance with the instructions of the man of God, he returned to this kind of food and continued to make improvement. In some of these stories we give the sense only, lest, as he himself says, concerning the acts of the saints in the book which he wrote, by quoting their rustic speech we might fail to utter spiritual truths.
Mission and Culture
Ivory Casket made in Northumbria around 720, at the same time, therefore, and in the same area as the Life of Gregory. The decoration indicates the complexities of Christianity and culture, the co-existence of old and new formative stories - the way of the warrior and way of Christ. On the left side is the Adoration of the Magi, on the right, a scene from the hero tale of Weland the Smith. Weland has just revenged himslelf on King Nithad by killing his sons. Here, standing on the far left, above the headless corpse, he holds one skull in a pair of tongues and offers a cup made of the other to the king's daughter.
Stories of Conversion
In his Ecclesiastical History of the English People (c.672-735), the Venerable Bede narrates Augustine's mission to southeast England and the spread of Anglo-Saxon Christianity thereafter. Both the stories below are determined by the cultural context of the evangelized. Ethelbert, for instance, receives Augustine as a potentially dangerous holy man, one who is not to be trusted under the royal roof in case of sorcery. Here, as elsewhere, mission proceeds from the top down: acceptance depends upon the king and his advisors, the former careful not to proceed without agreement from chief retainers, who, if displeased, might threaten his power. In the first story, note the role of Ethelbert's wife, marriage being another medium of evangelisation.
from Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People
So Augustine, strengthened by the encouragement of St. Gregory, in company with the servants of Christ, returned to the work ol preaching the word, and came to Britain. At that time Ethelberht, king of Kent, was a very powerful monarch. The lands over which he exercised his suzerainty stretched as far as the great river Humber, which divides the northern from the southern Angles. Over against the eastern districts of Kent there is a large island called Thanet which, in English reckoning, is 6oo hides in extent. It is divided from the mainland by the river Wantsum, which is about three furlongs wide, can be crossed in two places only, and joins the sea at either end. Here Augustine, the servant of the Lord, landed with his companions, who are said to have been nearly forty in number. They had acquired interpreters from the Frankish race according to the command of Pope St. Gregory. Augustine sent to Ethelberht to say that he had come from Rome bearing the best of news, namely the sure and certain promise of eternal joys in heaven and an endless kingdom with the living and true God to those who received it. On hearing this the king ordered them to remain on the island where they had landed and be provided with all things necessary until he had decided what to do about them. Some knowledge about the Christian religion had already reached him because he had a Christian wife of the Frankish royal family whose name was Bertha. He had received her from her parents on condition that she should be allowed to practise her faith and religion unhindered, with a bishop named Liudhard whom they had provided for her to support her faith.
Some days afterwards the king came to the island and, sitting in the open air, commanded Augustine and his comrades to come thither to talk with him. He took care that they should not meet in any building, for he held the traditional superstition that, if they practised any magic art, they might deceive him and get the better of him as soon as he entered. But they came endowed with divine not devilish power and bearing as their standard a silver cross and the image of our Lord and Saviour painted on a panel. They chanted litanies and uttered prayers to the Lord for their own eternal salvation and the salvation of those for whom and to whom they had come. At the king's command they sat down and preached the word of life to himself and all his gesiths there present. Then he said to them: 'The words and the promises you bring are fair enough, but because they are new to us and doubtful, I cannot consent to accept them and forsake those beliefs which I and the whole English race have held so long. But as you have come on a long pilgrimage and are anxious, I perceive, to share with us things which you believe to be true and good, we do not wish to do you harm; on the contrary, we will receive you hospitably and provide what is necessary for your support; nor do we forbid you to win all you can to your faith and religion by your preaching.' So he gave them a dwelling in the city of Canterbury, which was the chief city of all his dominions; and, in accordance with his promise, he granted them provisions and did not refuse them freedom to preach. It is related that as they approached the city in accordance with their custom carrying the holy cross and the image of our great King and Lord, Jesus Christ, they sang this litany in unison: 'We beseech Thee, 0 Lord, in Thy great mercy, that Thy wrath and anger may be turned away from this city and from Thy holy house, for we have sinned. Alleluia."
As soon as they had entered the dwelling-place allotted to them, they began to imitate the way of life of the apostles and of the primitive church. They were constantly engaged in prayers, in vigils and fasts; they preached the word of life to as many as they could; they despised all worldly things as foreign to them; they accepted only the necessaries of life from those whom they taught; in all things they practised what they preached and kept themselves prepared to endure adversities, even to the point of dying for the truths they proclaimed. To put it briefly, some, marvelling at their simple and innocent way of life and the sweetness of their heavenly doctrine, believed and were baptized. There was near by, on the east of the city, a church built in ancient times in honour of St. Martin, while the Romans were still in Britain, in which the queen who, as has been said, was a Christian, used to pray. In this church they first began to meet to chant the psalms, to pray, to say mass, to preach, and to baptize, until, when the king had been converted to the faith, they received greater liberty to preach everywhere and to build or restore churches.
At last the king, as well as others, believed and was baptized, being attracted by the pure life of the saints and by their most precious promises, whose truth they confirmed by performing many miracles. Every day more and more began to flock to hear the Word, to forsake their heathen worship, and, through faith, to join the unity of Christ's holy Church. It is related that the king, although he rejoiced at their conversion and their faith, compelled no one to accept Christianity; though none the less he showed greater affection for believers since they were his fellow citizens in the kingdom of heaven. But he had learned from his teachers and guides in the way of salvation that the service of Christ was voluntary and ought not to be compulsory. It was not long before he granted his teachers a place to settle in, suitable to their rank, in Canterbury, his chief city, and gave them possessions of various kinds for their needs.
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WHEN the king had heard his words, he answered that he was both willing and bound to accept the faith which Paulinus taught. He said, however, that he would confer' about this with his loyal chief men and his counsellors so that, if they agreed with him, they might all be consecrated together in the waters of life. Paulinus agreed and the king did as he had said. A meeting of his council was held and each one was asked in turn what he thought of this doctrine hitherto unknown to them and this new worship of God which was being proclaimed.
Coifi, the chief of the priests, answered at once, Notice carefully, King, this doctrine which is now being expounded to us. I frankly admit that, for my part, I have found that the religion which we have hitherto held has no virtue nor profit in it. None of your followers has devoted himself more earnestly than I have to the worship of our gods, but nevertheless there are many who receive greater benefits and greater honour from you than I do and are more successful in all their undertakings. If the gods had any power they would have helped me more readily, seeing that I have always served them with greater zeal. So it follows that if, on examination, these new doctrines which have now been explained to us are found to be better and more effectual, let us accept them at once without any delay.'
Another of the king's chief men agreed with this advice and with these wise words and then added, 'This is how the present life of man on earth, King, appears to me in comparison with that time which is unknown to us. You are sitting feasting with your ealdormen and thegns in winter time; the fire is burning on the hearth in the middle of the hall and all inside is warm, while outside the wintry storms of rain and snow are raging; and a sparrow flies swiftly through the hall. It enters in at one door and quickly flies out through the other. For the few moments it is inside, the storm and wintry tempest cannot touch it, but after the briefest moment of calm, it flits from your sight, out of the wintry storm and into it again. So this life of man appears but for a moment; what follows or indeed what went before, we know not at all. If this new doctrine brings us more certain information, it seems right that we should accept it.' Other elders and counsel lors of the king continued in the same manner, being divinely prompted to do so.
Coifi added that he would like to listen still more carefully to what Paulinus himself had to say about God. The king ordered Paulinus to speak, and when he had said his say, Coifi exclaimed 'For a long time now I have realized that our religion is worthless, for the more diligently I sought the truth in our cult, the less I found it. Now I confess openly that the truth shines out clearly in this teaching which can bestow on us the gift of life, salvation, and eternal happiness. Therefore I advise your Majesty that we should promptly abandon and commit to the flames the temples and the altars which we have held sacred without reaping any benefit.' Why need I say more? The king publicly accepted the gospel which Paulinus preached, renounced idolatry, and confessed his faith in Christ. When he asked the high priest of their religion which of them should be the first to profane the altars and the shrines of the idols, together with their precincts, Coifi answered 'I will; for through the wisdom the true God has given me no one can more suitably destroy those things which I once foolishly wor shipped, and so set an example to all.' And at once, casting aside his vain superstitions, he asked the king to provide him with arms and a station; and mounting it he set out to destroy the idols. Now a high priest of their religion was not allowed to carry arms or to ride except on a mare. So, girded with a sword, he took a spear in his hand and mounting the king's stallion he set off to where the idols were. The common people who saw him thought he was mad. But as soon as he approached the shrine, without any hesitation he profaned it by casting the spear which he held into it; and greatly rejoicing in the knowledge of the worship of the true God, he ordered his companions to destroy and set fire to the shrine and all the enclosures. The place where the idols once stood is stilf shown, not far from York, to the east, over the river Derwent. Today it is called Goodmanham, the place where the high priest, through the inspiration of the true God, profaned and destroyed the altars which he himself had consecrated.'