St. Paul as an exemplar of holiness and pastoral leadership in the writings of Pope Gregory the Great

The Apostle Paul plays an important role in the writings of Gregory the Great, who reserves such distinguished titles for him as egregius praedicator, magnus regendi artifex, and peritus medicus. Gregory cites the Apostle more often than any other scriptural author in the Pastoral Rule and Paul is the second most frequent biblical source in the Moralia outside of the Gospels. Given this prominence, it is worth examining how Gregory uses the letters of Paul in his writings and analyzing Gregory's portrayal of Paul as a model Christian, as a model pastor, as a model preacher and as a teacher for clerics.