(ABOUT 387.)
[Roman Martyrology and Greek Menaea. The life of S. Peter occurs in
that of his sister, S. Macrina, written by his brother, S. Gregory
of Nyssa. He is also spoken of by Socrates, Theodoret, and
Philostorgius.]
The family of which S. Peter was descended was very ancient and
illustrious, as we are informed by S. Gregory Nazianzen. It has become
famous for its saints, for three brothers were at the same time
eminently holy bishops, S. Basil, S. Gregory of Nyssa, and S. Peter of
Sebaste; and their elder sister, S. Macrina, was the spiritual mother of
many saints. Their father and mother, S. Basil the elder, and S. Emilia,
were banished for their faith in the reign of Galerius Maximian, and
fled into the deserts of Pontus; they are commemorated in the Roman
martyrology on May 30th. The grandmother of S. Peter was S. Macrina the
elder, who had been instructed in the way of salvation by S. Gregory the
Wonder-worker. S. Peter of Sebaste, was the youngest of ten children; he
lost his father whilst still an infant, and was therefore brought up by
his mother and sister. When the aged Emilia was dying, she drew her two
children--the only two who were present--to her, and taking their hands,
she looked up to heaven, and having prayed God to protect, govern, and
sanctify her absent children, she said, "To Thee, O Lord, I dedicate the
first-fruits; and the tenth of my womb. This, my first-born, Macrina, I
give thee as my first-fruits; and this, my tenth child, Peter, I give
thee as my tithe. They are thine by law, and thine they are by my free
gift. Hallow, I pray thee, this my first-born daughter, and this my
tenth child, and son." And thus blessing them, she expired, says S.
Gregory Nyssen. S. Emilia had founded two monasteries, one for men, the
other for women; the former she put under the direction of her son
Basil, the latter under that of her daughter Macrina. Peter, whose
thoughts where wholly bent on cultivating the seeds of piety sown in his
heart, retired into the house governed by his brother, situated on the
bank of the river Iris; and when S. Basil was obliged to quit that post
in 362, he left the abbacy in the hands of S. Peter, who discharged this
office for several years with great prudence and virtue. Soon after S.
Basil was made Bishop of Caesarea, in Cappadocia, in 370, he promoted his
brother Peter to the priesthood. His brother, S. Basil, died on Jan.
1st, A.D. 379, and Eustathius, Bishop of Sebaste, an Arian and a furious
persecutor of S. Basil, died soon after. S. Peter was consecrated in his
room, in 380, to root out the Arian heresy in that diocese, where it had
taken deep hold. In 381, he attended the general council held at
Constantinople, and joined in the condemnation of the Macedonian heresy.
His death happened in summer, about the year 387, and his brother, S.
Gregory of Nyssa, mentions that his memory was honoured at Sebaste by an
anniversary solemnity. "Peter," says Nicephorus (lib. ii. c. 44), "who
sprang from the same parents as Basil, was not so well-read in profane
literature as his brother, but he was not his inferior in the splendour
of his virtue."