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mdgspencer
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He tells this in his 19th homily in Evangelia.
“I am going to speak to you, brethren, of an incident that occurred a short time ago, so that if you see yourselves in your hearts as sinners, you may have greater love for the mercy of almighty God. This very year a man came to my monastery, seeking admission: this monastery you know is situated near the church of the blessed martyrs John and Paul. He was respectfully received, and lived in an edifying manner. A brother of his followed him to the monastery, but only corporally and not spiritually for, abhorring the life and the monastic habit, he lived in the monastery as a guest and refused to share the life of the other ones. He could not leave the monastery because, through lack of employment, he had not the means to live. His malice was burdensome to everyone, but all bore with him for the sake of his brother. He was proud and dissolute in his habits; he had no knowledge of an after-life, and mocked at those who tried to preach of it to him. He lived in the monastery in secular garb, was frivolous in his speech, restless, conceited, attentive to dress and dissipated in action. Last July he was stricken by the plague which you remember, and lay at death’s door. He was at his last gasp, and life could be felt only in his breast and tongue. All the monks were present, praying God to grant him a happy death. But he, suddenly seeing a dragon coming to devour him. began to cry out in a loud voice, saying ‘See how I am given over to be swallowed by a dragon, which cannot devour me because you are present. What are you waiting for? Go, so that I may be eaten up.’ When the monks advised him to make the sign of the cross, he answered as best he could: ‘I want to bless myself but I cannot, because the dragon is weighing me down. My face is covered by foam from his mouth, and his lips are suffocating me. See how he confines my arms; already my head is between his jaws.’ As he spoke thus, trembling and almost dead, all the monks began to pray with greater fervor, seeking to assist the dying man by their supplications. Suddenly, freed from the oppression of the dragon, he cried: ‘Thanks be to God. The dragon which held me has disappeared, is gone, fleeing from your prayers.’ Then he made a vow to serve God and to become a monk. From that time onwards he endures fever and continual pains, for he was snatched from death, but not completely restored to life. As he was stained with serious and habitual guilt, he now suffers a continual infirmity; the life-giving fire of purification cleanses the hardness of his heart, for it is God’s will that great malice should be purged by great affliction. Who would have believed that he was to be preserved and converted? Who can justly weigh the infinite mercy of God?” … The vision of the dragon did not herald his death but was meant to show him whom he had served."
(in Pope saint Gregory the Great, “Parables of the Gospel” (Dublin: Scepter Press, 1960), pp. 30-32)
Pope Saint Gregory the Great, who was Pope from 590 to 604, is a Doctor of the Church and one of the Fathers of the Church. Only three Popes have been customarily given the title “the Great.”
“I am going to speak to you, brethren, of an incident that occurred a short time ago, so that if you see yourselves in your hearts as sinners, you may have greater love for the mercy of almighty God. This very year a man came to my monastery, seeking admission: this monastery you know is situated near the church of the blessed martyrs John and Paul. He was respectfully received, and lived in an edifying manner. A brother of his followed him to the monastery, but only corporally and not spiritually for, abhorring the life and the monastic habit, he lived in the monastery as a guest and refused to share the life of the other ones. He could not leave the monastery because, through lack of employment, he had not the means to live. His malice was burdensome to everyone, but all bore with him for the sake of his brother. He was proud and dissolute in his habits; he had no knowledge of an after-life, and mocked at those who tried to preach of it to him. He lived in the monastery in secular garb, was frivolous in his speech, restless, conceited, attentive to dress and dissipated in action. Last July he was stricken by the plague which you remember, and lay at death’s door. He was at his last gasp, and life could be felt only in his breast and tongue. All the monks were present, praying God to grant him a happy death. But he, suddenly seeing a dragon coming to devour him. began to cry out in a loud voice, saying ‘See how I am given over to be swallowed by a dragon, which cannot devour me because you are present. What are you waiting for? Go, so that I may be eaten up.’ When the monks advised him to make the sign of the cross, he answered as best he could: ‘I want to bless myself but I cannot, because the dragon is weighing me down. My face is covered by foam from his mouth, and his lips are suffocating me. See how he confines my arms; already my head is between his jaws.’ As he spoke thus, trembling and almost dead, all the monks began to pray with greater fervor, seeking to assist the dying man by their supplications. Suddenly, freed from the oppression of the dragon, he cried: ‘Thanks be to God. The dragon which held me has disappeared, is gone, fleeing from your prayers.’ Then he made a vow to serve God and to become a monk. From that time onwards he endures fever and continual pains, for he was snatched from death, but not completely restored to life. As he was stained with serious and habitual guilt, he now suffers a continual infirmity; the life-giving fire of purification cleanses the hardness of his heart, for it is God’s will that great malice should be purged by great affliction. Who would have believed that he was to be preserved and converted? Who can justly weigh the infinite mercy of God?” … The vision of the dragon did not herald his death but was meant to show him whom he had served."
(in Pope saint Gregory the Great, “Parables of the Gospel” (Dublin: Scepter Press, 1960), pp. 30-32)
Pope Saint Gregory the Great, who was Pope from 590 to 604, is a Doctor of the Church and one of the Fathers of the Church. Only three Popes have been customarily given the title “the Great.”
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