St. Gregory the Great

St. Florian's Monastery, St. Florian, Austria

With his pen in hand, the saint takes dictation from the Holy Spirit, symbolized by the dove in the sunburst. In his book are the words Potest huius montis nomine beatissima semper Virgo Maria Dei Genitrix designari, "The name of this mountain [i.e., Mount Zion] may signify the most blessed ever-virgin Mother of God." This is from a commentary of Gregory's on Isaiah 2:2, "And in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on the top of mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it."

The triple tiara is a symbol of Gregory's role as Pope.

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Photographed at the monastery by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.