Day: August 5, 2023

Saint of the Day – 5 August – St Nonna of Nazianzen (c305-374) Widow of St Gregory Nazianzen the Elder, (c276-374) the saintly Bishop of Nazianzen and Mother of St Gregory Nazianzen (330-390) Doctor of the Church, his younger brother St Caesarius Nazianzen (c331-368) a Physician and St Gorgonia (Died c375) Married, Mother. Born in Nazianzen in Cappadocia (modern day Turkey) in around 305 and died in c374 in her home town, of natural causes. Patronages – death of children, Information services. Also known as – Nona.

The Roman Martyrology states: “In Nazianzus in Cappadocia, in today’s Turkey, Saint Nonna, who was the wife of the holy Bishop Gregory the Elder and mother of the Saints Gregory, Cesario and Gorgonia.”

Nonna was born and raised as a deeply religious Christian. After she married, she converted her husband Gregory to Christianity. He had been a member of the Hypsistarians, a Jewish-pagan sect which worshipped Hypsistos, the “Most High” God. Both Gregory and Nonna came from wealthy families and Gregory was able to personally finance the construction of a Church in the region. In 328, Gregory was selected as the Bishop of Nazianzen, a position he held until his death. At one point, Gregory subscribed to an Arian understanding of the Blessed Trinity. However, this was for a very brief time and he quickly renounced that position.

Nonna became the mother of three children, each of whom became Saints, the most notable of whom being the Doctor of the Church, St Gregory Nazianzen.

Nonna outlived her husband and two of her children, dying, almost certainly in 374.

Her son Gregory tells of an occasion in 351 when Nonna fell terribly sick with a severe illness and appeared to be at the point of death. On his way to visit a friend, Gregory hurried instead to his mother who, in the meantime, had begun to recover. She had a vision in which Gregory had given her magical cakes marked with the Sign of the Cross and blessed by him.

Gregory championed Nonna as a model of Christian motherhood. He wrote of her:

“My mother was a worthy companion for such a man [as my father] and her qualities were as great as his. She came from a pious family but was even more pious than they, although, in her body she was but a woman, in her spirit she was above all men…

Her mouth knew nothing but the truth but, in her modesty, she was silent about those deeds which brought her glory. She was guided by the fear of God. …”