Pope Gregorius I; 540–604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, ruling as Pope from 3 September 590 to his death. He is famous for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregorian Mission, to convert Anglo-Saxons in England to Christianity.

He made a general revision of the liturgy of the Pre-Tridentine Mass, reducing the role of deacons in the Roman Liturgy. To him is attribute the beginning of medieval spirituality. According to H.P.B., he is the first in establishing the identity between Lucifer and Satan, which is not stated in any Latin literary source before.

In a controversy relevant about the role of the woman, Gregory was among those who identified Mary Magdalene with Mary of Bethany, the woman that Luke (alone among the synoptic Gospels) identifies as sinful. Remarking the passage in the Gospel of Luke, Gregory remarked: “This woman, whom Luke calls a sinner and John calls Mary, I think is the Mary from whom Mark reports that seven demons were cast out.”

Cfr. The Devil in the Writings and Thought of Pope Gregory the Great (590-604) Charlotte Emily Kingston PhD University of York, 2011