St basil biography
Gregory the Theologian
Our father among the saintsGregory the Theologian, also known as Gregory of Nazianzus (though that name more appropriately refers to his father) and Gregory the Younger, was a great father and teacher of the Church.
His feast day is celebrated on January 25 and that of the translation of his relics on January With Sts. Basil the Great and John Chrysostom, he is numbered among the Three Holy Hierarchs, whose feast day is celebrated on January St. Gregory is also known as one of the Cappadocian Fathers.
Life
He was born in in Arianzus, a village of the second district of Cappadocia, not far from Nazianzus.
His father, who later became Bishop of Nazianzus, was named Gregory (commemorated Jan. 1), and his mother was named Nonna (Aug. 5); both are among the saints, and so are his brother Caesarius (Mar. 9) and his sister Gorgonia (Feb. 23).
Gregory of nazianzus biography of christopher brown The summer of was the wettest in Britain since records began, registering over twice the usual amount of rainfall between May and July Hofer has brought together a good deal of recent research, and his translations are often felicitous. The final chapter has a useful discussion of what theosis is not as well as what it is. This book consists of translations of 19 further orations which were not included in the Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers collection above.At first he studied in Caesarea of Palestine, then in Alexandria, and finally in Athens. As he was sailing from Alexandria to Athens, a violent sea storm put in peril not only his life but also his salvation, since he had not yet been baptized. With tears and fervor he besought God to spare him, vowing to dedicate his whole self to Him, and the tempest gave way to calm.
At Athens St. Gregory was later joined by St. Basil the Great, whom he already knew, but now their acquaintanceship grew into a lifelong brotherly love. Another fellow student of theirs in Athens was the young Prince Julian, who later as emperor was called the Apostate because he denied Christ and did all in his power to restore paganism.
Even in Athens, before Julian had thrown off the mask of piety, St. Gregory saw what an unsettled mind he had, and said, "What an evil the Roman State is nourishing" (Orat. V, 24, PG ).
After their studies at Athens, Gregory became Basil's fellow ascetic, living the monastic life together with him for a time in the hermitages of Pontus. His father ordained him presbyter of the Church of Nazianzus, and St. Basil consecrated him Bishop of Sasima (or Zansima), which was in the archdiocese of Caesarea.
This consecration was a source of great sorrow to Gregory and a cause of misunderstanding between him and Basil, but his love for Basil remained unchanged, as can be plainly seen from his Funeral Oration on Saint Basil (Orat. XLIII).
About the year , St. Gregory came to the assistance of the Church of Constantinople, which had already been troubled for forty years by the Arians; by his supremely wise words and many labors he freed it from the corruption of heresy.
Gregory of nazianzus biography of christopher cross Similarly, Hofer refers to Nicene theology as if it required no further qualification, against the weight of the last thirty years of patristic scholarship n7. Even in Athens, before Julian had thrown off the mask of piety, St. This is no small task when one considers the complicated personality and multifaceted ministry of Gregory and the fact that Gregory did not produce a major work that summarizes his thoughts. Texts in Translation.He was elected archbishop of that city by the Second Ecumenical Council, which assembled there in , and condemned Macedonius, Archbishop of Constantinople, as an enemy of the Holy Spirit. When St. Gregory came to Constantinople, the Arians had taken all the churches, and he was forced to serve in a house chapel dedicated to St.
Anastasia the Martyr. From there he began to preach his famous five sermons on the Trinity, called the Triadica. When he left Constantinople two years later, the Arians did not have one church left to them in the city. St. Meletius of Antioch (see Feb. 12), who was presiding over the Second Ecumenical Council, died in the course of it, and St.
Gregory was chosen in his stead; there he distinguished himself in his expositions of dogmatic theology.
Having governed the Church until , he delivered his farewell speech-the Syntacterion, in which he demonstrated the Divinity of the Son—before bishops and the Emperor Theodosius the Great. Also in this speech he requested, and received from all, permission to retire from the See of Constantinople.
He returned to Nazianzus, where he lived to the end of his life.
Gregory of nazianzus biography of christopher He was elected archbishop of that city by the Second Ecumenical Council , which assembled there in , and condemned Macedonius , Archbishop of Constantinople, as an enemy of the Holy Spirit. Events, however, dictated a different course of action and in the turmoil of the 4th century Arian controversy, Gregory was forcibly! The major drawback is that these translations are not always light reading, due to the Victorian language employed. Basil consecrated him Bishop of Sasima or Zansima , which was in the archdiocese of Caesarea.He reposed in the Lord in , having lived some sixty-two years.
His extant writings, both prose and poems in every type of meter, demonstrate his lofty eloquence and his wondrous breadth of learning. In the beauty of his writings, he is considered to have surpassed the Greek writers of antiquity, and because of his God-inspired theological thought, he received the surname "Theologian." Although he is sometimes called Gregory of Nazianzus, this title belongs properly to his father; he himself is known by the Church only as Gregory the Theologian.
He is especially called "Trinitarian Theologian," since in virtually every homily he refers to the Trinity and the one essence and nature of the Godhead. Hence, Alexius Anthorus dedicated the following verses to him:
- Like an unwandering star beaming with splendour,
- Thou bringest us by mystic teachings, O Father,
- To the Trinity's sunlike illumination,
- O mouth breathing with fire, Gregory most mighty.
Hymns
Apolytikion: (First Tone)
- The pastoral flute of your theology conquered the trumpets of orators.
- Bishop gregory of nyssa
- Gregory of nyssa writings
- Gregory of nyssa books
- Was st gregory of nyssa married
- For it called upon the depths of the Spirit
- and you were enriched with the beauty of words.
- Intercede to Christ our God,
- O Father Gregory, that our souls may be saved.
Kontakion: (Third Tone)
- O Glorious One, you dispelled the complexities of orators with the words of your theology.
- You have adorned the Church with the vesture of Orthodoxy woven from on high.
- Clothed in this, the Church now cries out to your children, with us,
- "Hail Father, the consummate theological mind."
Source
Modern Bibliography
- Holy Apostles Convent, The Lives of the Three Great Hierarchs: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom (Holy Apostles Convent Pubns, ) (ISBN )