Gregory's view of service and authority are rooted in his understanding of the Incarnation as an act of humility; and that the authority stems from humility, not power. He grounded his entire notion of pastoral care on this concept go authority as service, not servitude of those obeying. He is considered by many church historians […]

Thomas Merton wrote that the goal of monastic life was purity of heart, ". . . a clear unobstructed vision of the true state of affairs, an intuitive grasp of one's own inner reality as anchored, or lost, in God through Christ." In St. Benedict's Rule, the way to purity of heart was through the […]