THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF

GREGORY OF NYSSA.

CHAPTER I.

A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF S. GREGORY OF NYSSA.

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IN the list of the Nicene Fathers, there is no more honored name than that of Gregory of Nyssa. Beyond the praises of his great brother Basil and his equally great friend Gregory Nazianzen, the sanctity of his life, his theological learning, and his strenuous advocacy of the faith embodied in the Nicene creed have been celebrated by Jerome, Socrates, Theodoret, and many other Christian writers. Indeed, such was the esteem in which he was held that some did not hesitate to call him "the Father of Fathers" as well as "the Star of Nyssa."¹

Gregory of Nyssa was equally fortunate in his homeland, the name he bore, and the family that produced him. He was a native of Cappadocia, and was born most probably at Caesarea, the capital, about A.D. 335 or 336. No province of the Roman Empire had, in those early ages, produced more eminent Christian bishops than Cappadocia and the adjoining district of Pontus.

In the previous century, the great prelate Firmilian—the disciple and friend of Origen, whom he visited at his See—had held the Bishopric of Caesarea. In that same age, another saint, Gregory Thaumaturgus, also a friend and disciple of Origen, was bishop of Neo-Caesarea in Pontus. During the same century, no less than four other Gregories shed varying degrees of luster on bishoprics in that region. The family of Gregory of Nyssa was one of considerable wealth and distinction, and one that was also conspicuously Christian.

During the Diocletian persecution, his grandparents had fled for safety to the mountainous region of Pontus, where they endured great hardships and privations. It is said that his maternal grandfather, whose name is unknown, eventually lost both life and property. After living in retirement for some years, the family appears to have returned and settled at Caesarea in Cappadocia, or perhaps at Neo-Caesarea in Pontus, for there is some uncertainty in the accounts.

Gregory’s father, Basil, who gave his name to his eldest son, was known as a rhetorician. He died at a relatively early age, leaving a family of ten children—five boys and five girls—under the care of their grandmother Macrina and mother Emmelia. Both of these illustrious ladies were distinguished for the earnestness and strictness of their Christian principles, to which the latter added the charm of great personal beauty.

All the sons and daughters appear to have been of high character, but we only have special records for four sons and one daughter. The daughter, named Macrina after her grandmother, was the "angel in the house" of this illustrious family. She shared with her grandmother and mother the care and education of all the younger members. Nor was there

¹ Original: "Ὁ τῶν Πατέρων Πατήρ; ὁ τῶν Νυσσαέων φωστήρ" (The Father of Fathers; the Star of the Nyssaeans), Council. Nic. II. Act. VI. Edition of Labbe, p. 477; Nicephor. Callist. H.E. (Ecclesiastical History) xi. 19.