(ABOUT A.D. 390.)
[Roman Martyrology. Greek Menæa on Jan. 10th; the Coptic Church on
Oct. 14th and Nov. 22nd. Authorities:--His own works; S. Gregory
Nazianzen, in his letters; Socrates and Theodoret, in their
Ecclesiastical Histories.]
[Illustration: S. GREGORY OF NYSSA. After Dominichino.
March 9.]
S. Gregory was a younger brother of the great S. Basil, (June 14th,)
and S. Macrina, (July 19th), and son of the holy Eusebius and
Emmelia, who are commemorated on May 30th. Having lost his parents, he
grew to reverence his brother Basil as a father, and his sister was
to him as a mother, the instructress of his youth. He was educated
in every accomplishment of the age, and became a rhetorician. He was
married to a virtuous wife, named Theosebia, who is highly praised by
S. Gregory Nazianzen in his ninety-fifth epistle, in after years, as
"an honour to the church, an ornament of Christ, the utility of our
age, the confidence of women, the fairest and most illustrious amidst
the beauty of the brethren, truly holy wife of a priest, his peer in
honour and worthy of the great mysteries." These expressions, though
somewhat exaggerated, at least point Theosebia out as having been
held in high honour by the great saint of Nazianzus. Gregory took the
order of Reader, but instead of pressing forward to the diaconate and
priesthood, showed an inclination to pursue a wholly secular avocation
as a rhetorician, and this drew down on him a sharp reprimand from
Gregory Nazianzen. Moved by this admonition, Gregory now resolved to
turn his back upon worldly ambition, and devote himself wholly to the
service of God. He was ordained bishop by his brother, S. Basil, in
371, when he was aged about thirty-two; and it is supposed by Baronius
that Gregory lived with his wife in continence after his ordination,
and that she was a deaconess. Nazianzen calls her his "holy and blessed
sister," but this is slender ground for the conjecture. It must be
remembered that the celibacy of the clergy, which is now required by
the Western Church, with such advantage, was not a matter of rule
for some centuries, and never prevailed in the Oriental Church.
There cannot be much doubt as to the great benefit to the Church of
a celibate priesthood, but it is a mistake to endeavour to force
the facts of history to demonstrate that celibacy was of primitive
obligation. It was always felt to be most seemly, and when Western
Christendom became sufficiently organized to admit of the rule being
made, the popes and councils did what was evidently for the good of the
Kingdom of Christ in requiring the clergy to lead celibate lives.
The see of Gregory was Nyssa, a city of Cappadocia, of no great
importance, but the brilliant qualities of the bishop, and his
orthodoxy, made him soon conspicuous as a leader of the Catholics, and
an object of great dread to the Arians, who prevailed on Demosthesus,
the deputy-governor of the province, under the Arian Emperor Valens,
to banish him. He spent eight years in exile, wandering from place
to place, suffering everywhere persecution from the Arians. Shortly
after the accession of Gratian, Gregory was restored to his see, and
assisted at the Synod of Antioch, in 379, where he received the charge
of visiting the scattered churches in Arabia. To enable him to execute
this arduous work, the emperor Theodosius accorded to him the use of
the government post-horses and chariots.
He assisted at the council of Constantinople, in 381, when he was
chosen to make the funeral oration upon S. Meletius, patriarch of
Antioch, and was delegated to be one of the bishops to visit Pontus. In
385, he preached at Constantinople the funeral oration of the empress
Flacilla, and he was present at the dedication of the church of the
Ruffini, in Constantinople, in 394. The exact date of his death is not
known, but it is certain that he died at an advanced age.
It is unnecessary here to give a list of the writings of this eloquent
doctor, a large number of which have been preserved.
[Illustration: S. GREGORY OF NYSSA (with square nimbus). After Cahier.
March 9.]