Saint of the Day – 9 March – St Gregory of Nyssa (c335–c395) Bishop, Father of the Church, Brother of St Basil the Great. Another of Gregory’s brothers, called Naucratius, was a Monk. He was the Bishop of Nyssa in Cappadocia from 372 to 376 and from 378 until his death in 395. Born in c335 at Caesarea, Cappadocia and died there in c395 of natural causes. St Gregory was an erudite Theologian, Philosopher. Writer , Defender of orthodoxy against heresy but he possible lacked the administrative ability of his brother, Basil or the contemporary influence of Gregory of Nazianzen but, he was an erudite Theologian who made significant contributions to the Doctrines of the Church, in particular, of the Trinity and the Nicene Creed. St Gregory, together with his elder brother, St Basil the Great (Doctor of the Church) and their great and lifelong friend, St Gregory of Nazianzen (also a Doctor of the Church) are collectively known as the “Cappadocian Fathers.”
The Roman Martyrology reads today: “At Nyssa, the demise of St Gregory, Bishop, brother of the blessed Basil the Great, whose life and erudition have rendered him illustrious. He was expelled from his own City for having defended the Catholic Faith during the reign of the Arian Emperor, Valens.”
Gregory’s eldest sister, St Macrina the Younger, had a great influence on him. A discussion he had with her, as he attended at her deathbed and she looked forward to what lay ahead, was later expanded by Gregory, into a Treatise entitled On the Soul and the Resurrection.
Gregory was born at Caesarea in Cappadocia (south-eastern Turkey), the third son and one of five brothers and five sisters. His father was a Rhetorician and his mother, Emelia an earnest Christian and woman of great personal charm. His elder brother, Basil becamethe Bishop of Caesarea. Gregory had an excellent education as a Rhetorician at Athens. He may have married a lady called Theosebeia, possibly the sister of his friend Gregory of Nazianzen. After some years he became disillusioned with his career as a Professor of Rhetoric.
St Gregory of Nazianzen prevailed on Gregory to devote himself to the service of the Church. He was Ordained in 362. It is not known whether his wife died or accompanied him to Nyssa. He gave himself to studying the Scriptures and the works of the Christian writer Origen.
In 371 Gregory was installed as the Bishop of Nyssa, a small town in Lower Armenia, by his brother Basil. However, a financial scandal, where he appeared perhaps too gentle, caused him to be excluded from his See for two years but he was re-instated in 378. It was only after Basil’s death in 379 that his gifts as a Theologian and Writer developed. He became the mainstay of orthodoxy against the Arians throughout Cappadocia and was one of the champions of orthodoxy at the Council of Constantinople (381). And by the time he died he was a greatly respected figure in the Church. He was also in favour with the Emperor Theodosius, who asked him to preach at the funeral of his daughter Pulcheria. He died in the same year as Theodosius, 395.
Many of Gregory’s writings are extant. In theme, they resemble the writings of the other Cappadocian Fathers – Basil and Gregory Naziazen – asserting the Divinity of Jesus and the Holy Ghost against different forms of Arianism (denying the Divinity of Jesus) and Macedonianism (denying the Divinity of the Holy Ghost) – but probably have a greater clarity and depth. Below is an image of his work ‘On Virginity.’ Among the Greeks he was nick-named ‘The Theologian’ and ‘The Father of the Fathers’.
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