The Feast of St. Gregory the Great will be celebrated according to the Dominican Rite this coming Tuesday at 7:00 PM. Cantores in Ecclesia will sing Palestrina’s Missa Brevis and the Gregorian Chant Proper. A wine and cheese reception will follow in Siena Hall.

Gregory the Great was born in Rome in 1540 where he became the historian of St. Benedict; he even transformed his own house into a monastery where the great patriarch’s rule was observed. He is the last of the traditional Latin Doctors of the Church (with St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, and St. Jerome). England owes her conversion to him: he sent a company of Benedictine monks under whose guidance he hoped the Angles would become angels. He died in Rome on March 12, 604 and was canonized by acclamation immediately after his death.