"The Book of Pastoral Rule" - St Gregory the Great (review)

[Uriel_1]

Hello Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

After completely finishing the reading of the Bible (the Bible in a year - Ascension podcast), I have been interested in how God's Word has been inspired through out the two millenniums. I am interested to see how the Canon of Scripture has been complemented by the works of our most important theologians.

Therefore I have started a journey to read the works of the Doctors of the Church.

I have completed a review of the pinnacle work of St Gregory the Great (the first Doctor of the Church) being "The book of Pastoral Rule".

St Gregory lived to be 64 (540 to 604 AD) and completed this work in 594. At this time St Gregory was the 64th Bishop of Rome (Pontiff).

The work is a treatise on the duties and obligations of the clergy and how they address their congregations. It is considered the best work of its kind, in the early patristic era.

The work is divided into 4 parts, being:

1. An assessment of what particular person is suitable for the episcopal office.

2. This part considers what person is suitable for the office of preaching and the role of a pastor.

3. The biggest part of the work, this part consists of 36 admonitions (warnings to the faithful) and how to preach specifically to those people (for example those who suffer from pride, lust, avarice etc.)

4. This brief part explains how the preacher is to take care in office and how important this office is.

Attached is a PDF containing my full in depth review of the work (consisting of 6 pages).

I hope that my review of this work will entice you all to pick up a copy of the work, and expand your knowledge of the pastoral office.

God Bless,

Uriel.

 

[The Liturgist]

Hello Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

After completely finishing the reading of the Bible (the Bible in a year - Ascension podcast), I have been interested in how God's Word has been inspired through out the two millenniums. I am interested to see how the Canon of Scripture has been complemented by the works of our most important theologians.

Therefore I have started a journey to read the works of the Doctors of the Church.

I have completed a review of the pinnacle work of St Gregory the Great (the first Doctor of the Church) being "The book of Pastoral Rule".

St Gregory lived to be 64 (540 to 604 AD) and completed this work in 594. At this time St Gregory was the 64th Bishop of Rome (Pontiff).

The work is a treatise on the duties and obligations of the clergy and how they address their congregations. It is considered the best work of its kind, in the early patristic era.

The work is divided into 4 parts, being:

1. An assessment of what particular person is suitable for the episcopal office.

2. This part considers what person is suitable for the office of preaching and the role of a pastor.

3. The biggest part of the work, this part consists of 36 admonitions (warnings to the faithful) and how to preach specifically to those people (for example those who suffer from pride, lust, avarice etc.)

4. This brief part explains how the preacher is to take care in office and how important this office is.

Attached is a PDF containing my full in depth review of the work (consisting of 6 pages).

I hope that my review of this work will entice you all to pick up a copy of the work, and expand your knowledge of the pastoral office.

God Bless,

Uriel.

Welcome @Uriel_1 Thank you for sharing that! I greatly venerate Pope St. Gregory the Great, particularly his liturgical contributions, for example, the Presanctified Liturgy in its primary form (still used in the Byzantine Rite and by the Orthodox, and being revived by some Traditional Latin Mass communities after having been controversially modified by Pope Pius XII in the 1950s).

On that note, are you interested in liturgical texts and are you at all knowledgeable in Latin?

 

[Uriel_1]

Welcome @Uriel_1 Thank you for sharing that! I greatly venerate Pope St. Gregory the Great, particularly his liturgical contributions, for example, the Presanctified Liturgy in its primary form (still used in the Byzantine Rite and by the Orthodox, and being revived by some Traditional Latin Mass communities after having been controversially modified by Pope Pius XII in the 1950s).

On that note, are you interested in liturgical texts and are you at all knowledgeable in Latin?

Hi The Liturgist,

Thank you for the reply.

Unfortunately I am not experienced with liturgical texts as I am just starting my journey into Catholic texts outside the Bible (the Canon of Scripture). My goal is to study the major texts of the Doctors of the Church and to provide reviews on Christian forums to hopefully encourage other to read.

As Saint Gregory the Great is the first Doctor of the Church, this is the first text I have read and reviewed. I am currently getting through 3 books attributed to Saint Ambrose:

1. On the duties of the clergy
2. On the decease of Brother Satyrus
3. Two books concerning repentance

Despite this, if you have any recommendations concerning Liturgical texts that I should read, please let me know!

I can pronounce Latin, although I cannot understand it. In high school I took Latin for a few years but cannot remember anything about the language anymore unfortunately. I do use Google Translate though.

God Bless,

Uriel

 

[The Liturgist]

Hi The Liturgist,

Thank you for the reply.

Unfortunately I am not experienced with liturgical texts as I am just starting my journey into Catholic texts outside the Bible (the Canon of Scripture). My goal is to study the major texts of the Doctors of the Church and to provide reviews on Christian forums to hopefully encourage other to read.

As Saint Gregory the Great is the first Doctor of the Church, this is the first text I have read and reviewed. I am currently getting through 3 books attributed to Saint Ambrose:

1. On the duties of the clergy
2. On the decease of Brother Satyrus
3. Two books concerning repentance

Despite this, if you have any recommendations concerning Liturgical texts that I should read, please let me know!

I can pronounce Latin, although I cannot understand it. In high school I took Latin for a few years but cannot remember anything about the language anymore unfortunately. I do use Google Translate though.

God Bless,

Uriel

I do have some suggestions. For starters, have you read the old Tridentine Missal or any of the older versions of the Breviary, also known as the Liturgy of the Hours?

 

[Uriel_1]

I do have some suggestions. For starters, have you read the old Tridentine Missal or any of the older versions of the Breviary, also known as the Liturgy of the Hours?

I don't own a missal, but I think you're discussing something like this? (Amazon website). The issue I have is that I don't know a local parish or diocese that celebrates the Latin (Tridentine) mass here in Sydney, Australia.

I do have the set of "Divine Office" (Pauline Books) an Australian version of the Liturgy of the Hours. It is a three set volume as opposed to the four set volume that is used in North America. It is written in English.

May I ask are you a Traditionalist Catholic? That is a supporter of SSPX?

Could you provide me with reasons as to why the Tridentine Mass should be celebrated, and why the Roman Breviary should be prayed as opposed to the current Mass and current Divine Office? I am willing to learn Latin in order to do this, but would like to know why it is currently necessary to do this.

God Bless,

Uriel.