Background
Gregory was born on November 30, 538 in Clermont, in the Auvergne region of central Gaul.
(No writer in the Orthodox Christian West was more devoted...)
No writer in the Orthodox Christian West was more devoted to the Saints of Christ's Church nor more prolific in their praises than St. Gregory, Bishop of Tours (539-594). The Vita Patrum is book seven in a series of eight called Books of Miracles. This volume is dedicated to the ascetic strugglers of his native Gaul (France) many of whom he knew personally and some of whom were his close relatives. This book is presented for the first time in the English language through the efforts of the late Father Seraphim Rose. Never before has a single volume so thoroughly revealed the rich spiritual heritage of the Orthodox West.
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Gregory was born on November 30, 538 in Clermont, in the Auvergne region of central Gaul.
He was educated by his uncle, St. Gallus.
Having become seriously ill, Gregorymade a pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Martin at Tours in 563.
He had already been ordained a deacon. He stayed with his cousin Euphronius, Bishop of Tours, whom he succeeded in office when Euphronius died in 573, his election being confirmed by Sigebert I, King of Austrasia. Sigebert was assassinated two years later, and Gregory strongly opposed his successor, the Frankish King Chilperic, because of the attacks made by the latter on the Church. Gregory's hostility led to his trial in 580 on charges of slandering Queen Fredegund, but he was able not only to clear himself before a council at Berny but to win the confidence of the king, to whom he became an adviser. In 585 the city of Tours again became Austrasian under the rule of Sigebert's son Childebert II.
Gregory became influential at court, and lived to see Childebert take possession of the Kingdom of Burgundy in 593.
Gregory, sometimes referred to as the father of French history, was a prolific writer.
However, his facts are generally accurate.
His other writings include a history of the theology of the Franks; a book on the lives of the bishops, hermits, and abbots of Gaul; and a number of treatises on miracles.
He died in Tours, November 17, 594, and was canonized by acclamation shortly after his death.
(No writer in the Orthodox Christian West was more devoted...)