May 25 | Pope Saint Gregory VII

Welcome, young history buffs and curious minds, to My Daily Saint, the podcast that digs deep into the incredible lives of the saints, those remarkable people who shaped history and continue to inspire us today. Don't forget dusty old portraits and boring stories. Today, we have an absolute powerhouse of a saint. Imagine this. You are the most powerful ruler in Germany, an emperor who commands armies and kingdoms. But right now, you are standing outside in the freezing, biting snow for three entire days.

You have no shelter, you're shivering to the bone, and you're begging for forgiveness. Why? Because you picked a fight with the wrong guy. And that guy wasn't a general or a warrior. He was a pope who refused to back down.

Today, we are talking about Pope St. Gregory VII, also known as the Iron Reformer. Let's rewind. Before he was a pope making emperors freeze in the snow, he was just a kid named Hildebrand. He was born in Tuscany, Italy, sometime between 1020 and 1025. Hildebrand didn't grow up in a royal palace. He was born to poor parents, and tradition actually says his father was a carpenter, just like St. Joseph. Hildebrand's uncle, Laurentius, was a monk, and young Hildebrand attended the school attached to his uncle's monastery.

He must have loved the radical, dedicated life of the monks, because after he graduated, he became a monk himself. But the world outside his monastery was an absolute mess. At the time, the church was undergoing intense corruption. It was so bad that Hildebrand's mentor, Pope Gregory IV, had a turbulent reign and was forced to resign from the papacy.

Soon after, Pope Leo IX took over the Holy Chair and assigned Hildebrand to act as an advisor and a legate. Hildebrand was brilliant, and when Leo died in 1054, people immediately started tossing Hildebrand's name around as the next pope. But Hildebrand didn't want the position.

For almost 20 more years, he avoided the top job. But finally, in 1073, the church became a place of worship for Hildebrand, and the church became a place of worship for Couldn't wait any longer. Hildebrand was elected pope and chose the name Gregory VII.

Once he was in charge, Gregory looked around at the mess and said, enough. Among the many massive challenges facing the church were a hardening schism between the church in Rome and Constantinople, corrupt marriages in the clergy, and simony, which is the terrible sin of buying and selling holy church offices. There was also lay investiture, which was a fancy way of saying kings and emperors were illegally picking their own bishops and abbots. In 1074, Gregory laid down the law. He issued a set of strict decrees ordered toward reforming the entire church.

As you can imagine, corrupt people don't like being told to stop being corrupt. Gregory received a ton of resistance, but he held fast. This brings us to the ultimate showdown. The German emperor Henry IV became Gregory's largest opponent in a fierce dispute over whether the church or the state should have the power to choose bishops. Henry thought he was untouchable. He actually tried to depose the pope. But Gregory didn't blink. He threatened to excommunicate Henry, and eventually, he actually did it.

This was a massive deal. Because Henry was excommunicated, his subjects were completely released from their obligations to obey him. Suddenly, the all-powerful emperor was losing his grip. Desperate, Emperor Henry finally repented, which is exactly why he found himself spending three days in the snow as penance for his sins.

Gregory wrote several famous papal letters defending the importance of the Pope's role in maintaining unity in the Church. But being a reformer has a heavy price, and he faced intense hatred. He was ultimately forced to leave the Vatican. He didn't get a comfortable retirement.

Instead, he was driven away from Rome. Before he died in Salerno, Italy, on May 25, 1085, he spoke his legendary final words. I have loved justice and hated iniquity. Therefore, I die in exile. Gregory VII's life teaches us that doing the right thing is rarely the popular thing. He fought iniquity, which means extreme unfairness or evil, even when it meant standing up to the most powerful people on earth. Today, look for one way you can stand up for justice in your own life.

Maybe you see someone being excluded or picked on at school or online. Maybe everyone is laughing at a joke that puts someone else down, or your friends are trying to cheat on an assignment. Channel your inner Gregory VII. Don't be afraid to be the one person who says, no, this isn't right. It might be uncomfortable, and you might not be popular for it, but loving justice is always worth it. Remember, holiness isn't for the faint of heart. It's for warriors. Thank you for joining us on My Daily Saint. We look forward to sharing another incredible story of faith and courage with you tomorrow.