the
ancient glory of the empire, tarnished his reputation by persecuting
the Catholic Church and banishing Eutychius.
6. St. Greg. Moral. l. 14, c. 76, t. 1, p. 465.
7. He died in 582 and is ranked by the Greeks among the saints. See the
Bollandists in vita S. Eutychil ad 6 Apr.
8. Fleury thinks he was chosen abbot before his embassy to
Constantinople; but Ceillier and others prove, that this only
happened after his return.
9. It appears from the life of St. Theodosius the Cenobiarch, from St.
Ambrose's funeral oration on Valentinian, and other monuments, that
it was the custom, from the primitive ages, to keep the third,
seventh, and thirtieth, or sometimes fortieth day after the decease
of a Christian, with solemn prayers and sacrifices for the departed
soul. From this fact of St. Gregory, a trental of masses for a soul
departed are usually called the Gregorian masses, on which see
Gavant and others.
10. Dial. l. 4, c. 55, p. 465, t. 2.
11. It is inserted by St. Gregory of Tours in his history. Greg. Touron.
l. 10 c. 1.
12. Some moderns say, an angel was seen sheathing his sword on the
stately pile of Adrian's sepulchre. But no such circumstance is
mentioned by St. Gregory of Tours, Bede, Paul, or John.
13. Paul the deacon says, it was by a pillar of light appearing over the
place where he lay concealed.
14. L. 1, ep. 21, l. 7, ep. 4.
15. L. 1, ep. 25.
16. L. 1, ep. 5, p. 491.
17. L. 1, ep. 6, p. 498.
18. Conc. 3, Touron. can. 3. See Dom Bulteau's Preface to his French
translation of S. Gregory's Pastoral, printed in 1629.
19. He reformed the Sacramentary, or Missal and Ritual of the Roman
church. In the letters of SS. Innocent I., Celestine I., and St.
Leo, we find mention made of a written Roman Order of the mass: in
this the essential parts were always the same; but accidental
alterations in certain prayers have been made Pope Gelasius thus
augmented and revised the liturgy, in 490; his genuine Sacramentary
was published at Rome by Thomasi, in 1680. In it are mentioned the
public veneration of the cross on Good Friday, the solemn
benediction of the holy oils, the ceremonies of baptism, frequent
invocation of saints, veneration shown to their relics, the
benediction of holy water, votive masses for travellers, for the
sick and the dead, masses on festivals of saints, and the like. The
Sacram