The Glory of These Forty Days

Author: Pope Gregory I

Gregory I., St., Pope. Surnamed The Great. Was born at Rome about A.D. 540. His family was distinguished not only for its rank and social consideration, but for its piety and good works. His father, Gordianus, said to have been the grandson of Pope Felix II. or III., was a man of senatorial rank and great wealth; whilst his mother, Silvia, and her sisters-in-law, Tarsilla and Aemiliana, attained the distinction of canonization. Gregory made the best use of his advantages in circumstances and surroundings, so far as his education went. "A saint among saints," he was considered second to none in Rome in grammar, rhetoric, and logic. In early life, before his father's death, he became a member of the Senate; and soon after he was thirty and ac… Go to person page >

Translator: Maurice F. Bell

Bell, Maurice Frederick, M.A., son of G. W. Bell, barrister at law, was born in London, Sept. 3, 1862. He graduated from Hertford Coll., Oxford (B.A. 1884, M.A. 1887), was ordained D. 1885, P. 1886, and has been since 1904 Vicar of St. Mark, Regent's Park, London. He contributed to The English Hymnal, 1906, four translations (60, 68, 624, 634), and "O dearest Lord, by all adored" (Close of Festival), 1906. [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)  Go to person page >

Clarum decus jejunii, p. 236, i. There does not seem to be any reason for ascribing this to St. Gregory. Additional translation: The glory of these forty days, by M. F. Bell, in The English Hymnal, 1906, No. 68. [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.]

--Excerpt from John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)