Kinship With The Martyrs

Kinship with the Martyrs
Page 1 of 55
PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (www.oxfordschol arshi p.com). (c) Copyri ght Oxford Uni versi ty Press, 2014.
Al l Ri ghts Reserved. Under the terms of the l i cence agreement, an i ndi vi dual user may pri nt out a PDF of a si ngl e chapter of a
monograph i n OSO for personal use (for detai l s see http://www.oxfordschol arshi p.com/page/pri vacy-pol i cy). Subscri ber: Central
European Uni versi ty Li brary; date: 07 August 2014
University Press Scholarship Online
Oxford Scholarship Online
Architects of Piety: The Cappadocian Fathers and the Cult
of the Martyrs
Vasiliki M. Limberis
Print publication date: 2011
Print ISBN-13: 9780199730889
Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: May 2011
DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199730889.001.0001
Saints as Relatives and Relatives as Saints
Vasiliki M. Limberis (Contributor Webpage)
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199730889.003.0004
Abstract and Keywords
This chapter addresses how the Cappadocians imbrication with their own families merges
with their promotion of martyr piety. They use it to forge new relationships with the martyrs
and to promote their own families. They were successful because a vibrant sacramental life
for the laity was not yet the norm; every pious catechumen could participate in a panegyris
for martyrs. They promote kinship with the martyrs as spiritual kinship, open to monastics
and laity alike. Basil and Gregory of Nyssa even claimed three saints as relatives: Gregory
Thaumaturgus, Thecla, and the Forty Martyrs. Hence, the prestige of their own family went
beyond all social parameters. Finally, Gregory of Nazianzus and Gregory of Nyssa inscribe
their recently deceased kin into the ranks of the martyrs. The Cappadocians succeed in
bypassing the need for procreation, since through martyr piety their familys honor is
forever.
Page 2 of 55
Keywords: kinship, asceticism, baptism, marriage, godparents, Emmelia, Macrina, Gorgonia, Caesarius, Nonna
It is very difficult for the present-day reader to grasp the idea that families as aristocratic,
educated, and rich as the Cappadocians willingly chose social extinction for their gens.
1
Or
did they? One would be hard-pressed right now to come up with the name of even one
famous family of fourth-century Cappadocia whose members married, had children, and
passed on vast estates. Contrary to the almost universal notions of ways to perpetuate ones
family line, nearly all the Cappadocians went against the traditional standards of their own
society and invested their energies in a completely new way of livingasceticism. Yet, they
blended aristocratic ideals of society in late antiquitysuch as patronage, statesmanship,
social networking, and maintenance of a good reputationinto their lives while pursuing
Christian asceticism in varying degrees. They continued to follow all the societal norms they
had inherited through education and acculturation, most notably in mastering the
conventions of public speaking, civic deportment, and negotiating political affairs. These they
carried out in rhetorical compositions, in properly delivered addresses, in finely crafted
letters, and through patronage and leadership for their communities in the forms of martyria,
churches, monasteries, hospitals, and orphanages. In fact, they were (p.98) also quite
successful in utilizing all the traditional media common in late antiquity for promoting their
families. While the Cappadocian Fathers were certainly celibate, their personal versions of the
ascetic life accommodated the strengthening of kinship ties with their families forever.
What was so revolutionary was their justification for why their families were so special and
deserved memorializing. Through an elaborate, lifelong effort at telling (and retelling) the
stories of the local martyrs and in connecting their families to those stories, Basil and Gregory
of Nyssa successfully laid claim to the martyrs as their spiritual kin. Their own family was
related to the most important martyrs of the region: Thecla, Gregory Thaumaturgus, and
the Forty Martyrs of Sebasteia. Their success at justifying such claims is the epitome of what
has been aptly called, the culture making aspects of martyrdoms representations.
2
All
three Cappadocians went even further. Their writings immortalized their deceased family
members with funeral panegyrics that bestowed the martyrs virtues onto the conduct of
their lives. Knowing who their audiences were and that the texts are generative of collective
memory, the Cappadocians actively contributed to their own memorializing.
3
In so doing
they also increased their power and prestige.
This chapter will explore the forms of kinship known to the Cappadociansaffinal, adoptive,
and spiritualand what these meant in the context of the Church. Each of these could be
achieved through one or more means: monasticism, marriage and birth, or martyr piety. Of
course, the several means to kinship often overlap, as we shall see first in the brief discussion
of monasticism, which is both adoptive and spiritual. At this point, it will be crucial to then
explain how affinal relationships came about in fourth-century Cappadocia, with special
attention to the status of baptism specifically, and sacramental life generally, in the fourth-
century Church. As will be evident, the Cappadocians ended up being beneficiaries of this
brief period in church history when an active sacramental life for the laity was still developing
and not widespread, and when martyr piety served as the customary way people showed
Christian devotion. Though some readers may know the family stories of the Cappadocians
very well, it is essential next to review their biographies to bring to the fore what they found
most valuable in kinship. This chapter will then highlight some of the most important
Page 3 of 55
relationships in the Cappadocians own families, and how they influenced each others life
decisions. Such discussions perfectly contextualize, as we shall see, the Cappadocians
concept of kinship with the martyrs.
(p.99) The next section explores how the Cappadocian Fathers made strategic use of the
rather nebulous, formative situation in ecclesiastical piety (at least nebulous by later
standards) in order to promote kinship with the martyrs for everyone, and how kinship with
the martyrs qualified for the most part as spiritual kinship. Yet for their own families, kinship
with martyrs was so valued that it became something more than spiritual. For Basil and
Nyssen, connecting their own family members to certain martyrs in nearly consanguineous
relationships based on family models gave them special advantages in the Church. Their
unique concept of kinship with the martyrs (consanguineous and spiritual) was so pervasive
that references to such hereditary connections are scattered throughout every genre of
their writings. It is important, therefore, to pay particular attention to what martyr they claim,
in what context, and for which family member.
It is precisely in this context that the Cappadocians martyr piety moved seamlessly from the
inner sanctum of their families to the public sphere of the Church. As they became bishops of
the Church on the public stage, all the Cappadocians eventually took their brothers, sisters,
mothers, fathers, and best friends into an even more privileged positioninto the realm of
the saints. The last section of the chapter will reveal how natural it was for the Cappadocians
to blur the boundaries between a panegyric to a martyr and a funeral encomium for a
deceased family member. By merging their virtues in lifeincluding miracleswith the
rhetorical form of the classic panegyric, the Cappadocians assure that their beloved relations
would achieve in death the same saintly status as the martyr. In this regard, Gregory of
Nyssas literary efforts for his sister Macrina were exceptional; he invented a new genre for
her that goes beyond a funeral encomium. The Life of Macrina is truly a hagiobiography.
Finally, the chapter analyzes the bits and pieces of descriptions of their funeral rituals, which
are nearly identical to the rubrics of a martyr festival. Not only does this reinforce the
identity of the deceased person as a martyr, but in a brilliant way it also temporarily
demolishes class barriers, since all people were welcome atand indeed familiar witha
martyrs panegyris. This becomes all the more distinctive and extraordinary when we
remember that the Cappadocians constantly preached that everyone, rich and poor alike,
should become friends of the martyrs.
The Procedures of Kinship
Before delving into the episodes in the Cappadocians lives so brimming with the vitality of
family life, it is helpful to take a look at the means of social interaction that created kinship for
them. This lays the foundation for (p.100) understanding their concept of their own kinship
with the martyrs. Kinspeople have a special relationship of obligation, trust, honesty, and
support in fourth-century Cappadocia.
4
Most especially, kinship for the Cappadocians is not
defined solely as biological reproduction, although blood relations, of course, fit into their
idea of kinship. It is best to view kinship as an instrument for conceiving of social relations.
5
Seeing kinship as a quality of behavior, disconnected from biological reproduction, frees it
from the constraints of both metaphoric kinship and fictive kinship.
6
As we shall see, once
one is related to another person, the obligations and privileges of the relationship are sous
Page 4 of 55
entendus. The key to understanding kinship in this light is to focus on how people become
related. For the Cappadocians, there were several pathways. The best route to establish
kinship, in their view, was formal entry into the monastic life which established spiritual kinship
ties; but this was certainly not for the majority of Christians. The other means to kinship were
marriage, birth, and martyr piety, open to everyone not committed already to a monastic
vocation; yet, of course, monastics, too, could participate in kinship through martyr piety.
7
To
this end, it is first necessary to examine monastic kinship briefly before exploring the status of
marriage and birththe latter through the sacrament of baptismin their Cappadocian
context.
Monastic Kinship
From the tremendous amount of recent literature on the emergence of coenobitic
monasticism in Asia Minor, it is quite well established that Basil of Caesarea culled what he
found useful in extant monastic practices from all over the eastern Mediterranean and Egypt
to found monastic households based on a clearly delineated communal rule.
8
He certainly
refined and regularized monastic life, but he did not create it anew.
9
Basil explicitly says that
the best means for each person to restore the likeness of God is to choose the ascetic life, not
(p.101) in isolation, but in community.
10
Throughout the Asceticon, where Basil reiterates
how one is to live harmoniously with others in the monastery, he demonstrates how the
coenobitic life creates spiritual kinship among the brothers, or sisters, at the expense of
biological kinship. Basil consciously assumes the language of familial kinship, supplanting both
the need and importance of the traditional family, and applies it to the daily communal life of
the monastery. The monastery was not a supplement to the traditional bonds of society but
a wholesale replacement of them.
11
The following themes about spiritual kinship emerge
consistently in the Asceticon.
First, the coenobitic life requires that each candidate renounce all biological bonds of kinship.
Basil laces the Asceticon with Jesus words in Luke 14:26 in various forms and simultaneously
cuts through the very foundations of secular societythe family: Whoever comes to me and
does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, even life itself
cannot be my disciple.
12
He is very clear that each novice must renounce all ties of physical
relationship and human friendships.
13
Basil wisely suggests that if the candidate has any wish
to get married, he or she should do so before making the promise to live the religious life,
because were the individual to do so afterward, he or she would break a vow to God.
14
Monastics could not go visit their relatives for any reason, including sickness, and only pious
relatives could visit the monastery for a short time, with supervision and without extensive
conversation. Moreover, every visiting relative was to be considered the relative of every
other brother (or sister) of the monastery, never ones own.
15
Despite so drastic a repudiation of family, monastics did not find themselves alone, alienated,
and in chaos. They had a new father (or mother) in the superior of the monastery, and they
had many siblings, all hierarchically arranged as senior or junior monastics in a working
household, acting in various roles as teacher, boss, or helper.
16
The basic unit of monastic
life, just as outside the monastery, was household, led by a congregational parent, a
member of the household, or kinsmen.
17
Basil states quite clearly that a monastics true
(p.102) parents are those who brought him to the spiritual life of the Gospel. Most
important, a monastic looks upon as his brethren those who have received the same spirit of
Page 5 of 55
adoption.
18
Thus, monasticism has a complete family system in place that supplants physical,
affinal kinship with spiritual and adoptive kinship.
The final benefit of monastic kinship is material welfare. Basil makes careful provisions for
candidates to dispose of their property. He suggests, first, that the person dispose of it
himself, but if he has problems of any sort, be it with relatives or anyone else, he should not
let a blood relative take charge.
19
If he needs to seek a judgment, he should not take it to a
secular court. Though he does not say so, one can safely assume the judge would be the
superior of the community, or a bishop, since Basil worked steadily to move monasticism
under ecclesiastical administration.
20
Furthermore, Basil disapproved of relatives bestowing
gifts on the monastery, but he left the final decision to the superior.
21
As with matters of
discipline, work schedule, prayer, and conduct, all decisions concerning land, money, shelter,
livestock, clothing, and food were made solely by the superior. So just as it functioned in the
fourth-century household, property ownership in the monastery defined the rule of the
father over the household much more than did blood.
22
From the Asceticon we see how Basil anticipated every material need of the new monastic,
just as would any good father. He gives ample attention to a wide variety of material
concerns, such as suitable clothing, belts, comfortable shoes, moderation in consuming
meals, dinnertime deportment, care for the sick members of the community, manual labor,
honorable trades to teach the orphans, and methods to conduct business.
23
Basil knew that
material support was the most rudimentary obligation and benefit of family, and he made
sure that the monastery fulfilled that role. Like a well-run family household, the monastery
provided for every need. In this way, all ties with the secular world could be more easily
broken. Monastics no longer needed any support of their families, any form of charity, or any
rich persons patronage.
24
Finally, it is well worth noting what Basil has to say when monastics attend a martyrs
panegyris. He deals with the subject because it seems lucrative (p.103) emporia were set
up adjacent to martyria when the panegyris was taking place. Basil specifies in great detail in
several other places how monks were to market their handiwork, but under no
circumstances could they conduct business at a martyr shrine.
We should not make the shrines the occasion and place for a market and a fair and
common trade instead of praying for one another, adoring God together, imploring His
aide with tears, making satisfaction for their sins, thanking Him for His benefaction and
strengthening their faith by hearing words of exhortation (practices which we know to
have occurred with our own memory), we ought not to imitate them and confirm their
unseemly conduct by also participating in such commercial pursuits.
25
We have a rare glimpse here of a convergence of two worldsmonastics at the martyr
shrine, where hoards of laity would beand martyr piety seems to be the great leveler of
the two. Monastics and lay peopletwo groups of Christians who intentionally live apart from
each otherhave no distinction before the martyrs. No matter what their social arrangement
in society, all Christians come to the martyrs alike, and all must show the same reverence.
Kinship through Marriage and Birth
Page 6 of 55
In the first four centuries, the Church did nothing to contravene the Roman laws and
customs concerning the institution of marriage, even after the settlement of Constantine.
Until at least the end of the ninth century, the Byzantines generally concluded marriages as
civil contracts without any involvement of the Church in the legal aspects of the marriage
contract.
26
As demonstrated in 1 Corinthians, Ephesians, 1 Timothy, and Titus, the early
Church was primarily interested in how people lived after the marriage. That people
continued to contract marriages for their children or themselves, and hosted the ceremony
and celebrations according to Roman law and custom, was simply a given in Christian life.
Marriage customs from Greco-Roman antiquity continued in fourth-century Cappadocia.
These included such practices as betrothal gifts from bridegroom to bride, crowns of either
precious metal or wreathed flowers for the couple, exchange of rings, and celebrations
afterward, including feasting and dancing.
27
(p.104) The discussions of marriage found in the writings of the Cappadocian Fathers fit
this pattern. In fact, nearly half of Basils eighty-four canons on practical matters in the life of
the Church concern marriage. Yet he never deals with the process of creating the marriage
ceremony, deciding who officiates at the wedding, or designating how the Church blesses the
marriage. He most certainly does not propose a theology of marriage or speak of marriage as
a sacrament in the Church. Basils concern is centered much more on ethical living during
marriage, the number of remarriages one might have, and penances for those who violate
ethical living standards. Hence, Basils canons calling for restrictions on second and third
marriages and prohibition of fourth marriages would become normative at the Council in
Trullo in 692.
28
The following canon best typifies the Cappadocians view of marriage: Marriages contracted
without the permission of those in authority are fornication. If neither father nor master be
living, the contracting parties are free from blame; just as if the authorities assent to the
cohabitation, it assumes the fixity of marriage.
29
Thus, the Cappadocians accepted that
marriages were contractual relationships between a consenting man and woman, that they
were conducted outside the provenance of the Church, and that the most fundamental ties of
kinship resulted from marriage.
Some of Gregory of Nazianzus letters show a strong respect for weddings, and in the
process the letters also give us evidence about wedding rituals and customs at the time.
Christian clergy were invited to weddings just like any other guest. Such invitations were
sporadic in the fourth century and depended on the friendship and social status of the
parents and clergy.
30
If Gregory had been able to attend two weddings to which he was
invited, he would have delivered the epithalamios, the traditional hymn delivered at Greco-
Roman weddings, not as a bishop but as an honored, talented rhetor. Unfortunately, on both
occasions he was too sick to attend.
(p.105) In one letter, Nazianzen asks a certain Eusebius to excuse him from the wedding of
the lovely girl Evopia. He insists that Eusebius sing the epithalamios in his stead, and that the
father place the crowns on the heads of the bride and groom.
31
For the wedding of
Olympias, daughter of his friend Vitalianus, he sent an exquisite wedding hymn, written in his
impeccable Greek verse.
32
When Gregory begs off the invitation, he writes that he would be
the laughingstock of the reception since he has, in essence, two left feet!
33
He writes further
Page 7 of 55
that jokes and lightheartedness are required for weddings, but then he becomes more
serious, adding a salient comment on the wedding ceremony. If he were attending the
wedding he would join the couples right hands together, and then unite them to God, to
bring the best things to their union according to our common prayers.
34
This is his Christian
innovation and addendum to the ceremony, his unique personal blessing.
Both letters show that Christianity had little to no influence on the wedding ceremony of that
time. In fact, Gregory states his own personal innovation on Greco-Roman tradition when he
attends weddings: he always has the father crown the couple, and he says the prayers,
which are never limited by place.
35
Crowning the couple and the joining of their right hands
as a symbol of Concordia were the age-old rituals of Roman marriage.
36
Gregorys moral
concerns center not on forging the contract but on the traditional wedding celebrations after
the ceremony. Letter 232 stands out particularly because he is so worried about maintaining
the decorum of the celebration. And he is not even invited to the wedding! He writes to a
certain Diocles, the father of the bride, saying that he will be at the wedding in spirit. With his
own wistful pastoral note, he adds:
(p.106) For one of the most beautiful things at a wedding is to have Christ present,
and wherever Christ is there is modesty, and water becomes wine. That is to say,
everything is transformed into something better, not just a hodge-podge of bishops
and clowns, prayers and applauses, psalms and stimulating flute music. It is necessary
for Christians to guard their modesty on all occasions, and this includes at weddings. If
your son-in-law respects this, you shall have a son. If not, then you will be stuck with a
soldier.
37
Gregorys addition of Christ to the wedding is a notable innovation. Marriage was not yet
under the umbrella of the Churcheven less was it regarded as a sacrament. Yet the
evidence shows that the Cappadocians held marriage in high esteem and obviously valued it
as means of kinship.
After marriage, birth establishes fundamental bonds of kinship. But like marriage, the Church
of the fourth century had no means of sanctifying birth, or even of including it under the
auspices of ecclesiastical dominion. Because the events of birth and child baptism not only
became inextricably linked but also became the norm in Christianity from the eighth century
onward, it is crucial here to decouple the two events. Birth and baptism were two events not
associated in fourth-century church practice. In fact, baptisms role in kinship is yet unformed
in the fourth century.
As was the custom for the majority of Christians in the fourth century, all of the Cappadocians
were baptized as adults. We have no examples in their families of infant or child baptism.
Gregory of Nazianzus introduces the idea of baptizing small children, but not babies, for it
is better that they should be unconsciously sanctified than that they should depart unsealed
and uninitiated.
38
But this is a novel idea. He justifies it by equating it to Jewish circumcision
on the eighth day, which was sort of a typical seal.
39
For those children not in danger of
dying, Gregory suggests that children of age three or four should be baptized, when they
may be able to listen and to answer something about the Sacrament.
40
For the same reason, all the Cappadocians plead with people to stop delaying baptism.
Page 8 of 55
Nazianzen states the common reason for delayed baptism: But are you afraid lest you
should destroy the gift of God, and do you therefore put off your cleansing, because you
cannot have it a second time?
41
And Gregory (p.107) of Nyssa begs, You find yourself
outside of paradise, O catechumen, and part of the company outside the boundaries with
Adam the forefather. As a young person you say, I am not old yet. Do not be deceived, for
death is not limited by the preferences of age, neither is death frightened by those in their
prime, its power is not only over old people.
42
Basils oration, although riveting, obviously
had little effect. What will conquer you? Pleasure of the flesh or holiness of the soul?
Enjoyment of the present or the yearning for the future? Should the angels skip over you, or
should they hold you close?
43
The excuses of their parishioners echo loudly in these
writings.
The Cappadocians make no mention of either sponsors or godparents for baptism, although
other Christian authors such as Hippolytus, Egeria, John Chrysostom, and Augustine give
some evidence of sponsors who testified that the catechumen was worthy of baptism; and
they remained with their catechumen during the weeks of preparation for the baptism.
44
Once the baptismal ceremony was finished, the sponsors had no further role to play.
45
Even
though a few decades later John Chrysostom refers to the sponsor as the spiritual father,
and the catechumen as the spiritual child, neither the clergy nor the laity of the fourth
century saw the social utility yet of making sponsors into kin, of making them into
godparents.
46
In essence, the practice did not catch on until well into the fifth and sixth
centuries. While it is likely that the Cappadocian Fathers had sponsors when they were
baptized, perhaps they were family members or bishops who had taught them, we have no
evidence. Instead of mentioning someone to vouch for the catechumen, Nazianzen
consistently stresses that baptism is an individual decision and that each person must
prepare himself for the cleansing mystery. He scolds people for quibbling about who will
baptize them, a mere priest or a bishop of high rank; for concerning themselves about the
quality of the fabric of the baptismal robe they will wear; and for disdaining to be baptized
with poor people.
47
In the next two centuries, baptizing children and infants became more common, as their
parents brought them to the church and acted as their sponsors. That biological parents
would become spiritual parents in bringing (p.108) their children to baptism at first posed
no theological problem for the Church. This practice changed, though, by the time of the
Council in Trullo, 692. Furthermore, every region of Christendom developed a theology of
spiritual incest that taught that biological parents and the godparent (sponsor for eternity) of
their child in baptism were related to one another in spiritual kinship. Physical marriage
between members of these families was henceforth strictly forbidden. Through sponsoring
their child in baptism, he or she would become the familys spiritual relative, with all the
benefits of the implicit friendship, loyalty, and patronage. Biological parents thus saw the
advantages of inviting a friend or social acquaintance to become their childs godparent. In
essence, they would be inviting a new person into the family. It took very little time for this
theology of godparenthood to transform liturgical actions into a pattern of social behavior.
48
It may seem odd to stress what is not present in the concept of kinship for the Cappadocian
Fathers. It is necessary to do this primarily because once the sacramental theology of
baptism and marriage developed so much later in Christianity, it came to dominate all
Page 9 of 55
discussion of the subject, overpowering the historical reality of both institutions in earlier
centuries. This later sacramental theology of baptism and marriage, with its explicit
ramifications for Christian kinship, simply did not exist in the fourth century.
For the Cappadocians, baptism, indeed, was a vital sacrament; but baptism, either of adults
or children, did not establish kinship for them. Conversely, marriage did establish kinship in
the fourth century, but it was not a sacrament of the Church, nor did the Church yet have
control over the marriage or the ceremony. Since the Cappadocians were avid promoters of
the ascetic life, marriage and procreation were decidedly a second choice for living the
Christian life. In their view, to create kinship through this conventional way of life was also
inferior. By consciously choosing asceticism, each of the Cappadocian Fathers actively
stopped the social production of conventional kinship, based on marriage and birth.
Though they preached repudiation of kinship ties for those who joined the monasteries, and
though all three of them were celibate, the Cappadocians continued to value kinship ties with
their own family members quite seriously, just as the laity did in the wider society. Kinship
with their own families was of great consequence to each of them, and they were both
assiduous and responsible in performing all the obligations that kinship demanded. Given
their strong attachments to their families, it may appear that they were ultimately (p.109)
stymied by celibacy, since kinship, conventionally speaking, depended on traditional marriage
patterns and eventual births. But for the Cappadocians, there was, indeed, one more
outstanding way to establish kinship, and that was through martyr piety.
As they actively promoted of the cult of the martyrs, the Cappadocians created a new
network of relativeskinship with the martyrs. Their asceticism may have caused the demise
of their family lines on earth, but they were assured a blessed existence for eternity by
joining the celestial family of the martyrs. Furthermore, it was martyr piety, with all its
attendant rituals at shrines and churches, that created a flourishing life in the Church for the
faithful in the fourth century. Christian piety expressed through active participation in the
sacraments simply was not a visible, popular, or typical occurrence in the fourth century.
Few people elected to be baptized before the end of their lives, so at most there would have
been only a handful of people receiving Holy Eucharist at the liturgies. And with so many
catechumens in the Church ordered to depart after the Gospel reading and the sermon, it is
hard to imagine that the churches were full during the second half of the liturgy each
Sunday.
49
In other words, fourth-century piety of lay Christians was not centered on the
sacraments.
50
The cult of the martyrs was the best way to establish kinship, both for themselves and their
lay parishioners. They found that the laity needed little prompting in their devotion to the cult
of the martyrs, and certainly most people continued to marry and have children, while few
joined the monastery. The Cappadocians tapped into the vast reservoir of extant martyr piety
among the laity, taking control of it and reshaping it through orations, building martyria, and
conducting ceremonies at martyr panegyreis. In doing so, they preached that everyone
should become kin with the martyrs. But they also set themselves apart from the laity in their
own devotion to the cult of the martyrs. They claimed special relationships of their own
ancestors to certain favorite martyrs. And as they became adept at the practice of asceticism
within the confines of their estates, they fruitfully reinterpreted the struggles of daily life in
Page 10 of 55
light of the trials of the martyrs.
51
(p.110) Sketches of Two Families
The families of Basil and of his friend Gregory of Nazianzus both fit the definition of a
patrilineal, nuclear family, where the father presided over the entire household, which
included servants and slaves. They were nuclear to the extent that there was no extended
family under one roof, as their daughters married out to the husbands house and sons
established their own households.
52
The rule of the father over the household was much
less determined by biology than by property ownership.
53
In practice, women often ruled
over their households, depending on their status as property owner, and then often as
widow.
54
Because all the Cappadocians histories are fraught with inconclusiveness and renewed
debates about the precise dating of their life events, a careful review of the actual stories of
the Cappadocians families is extremely important, though it may seem tedious to some. Yet it
is also vital to make perfectly clear that my purpose is not to set out their definitive
biographies.
55
Rather, my purpose is to present their lives in the context of their family
histories in order to convey as concisely as possible their close interdependency and their
strong family allegiances. Noticing their particular sensitivities and spotting their silences and
absences at crucial moments in their lives is an exercise for discovering the rudiments of the
Cappadocians ideas about kinship. Their familial relationships and interactions provide an
insight not only into their own intimate circles but also into the scenarios revealing how highly
the Cappadocians honored kinship of all sorts. By noting the strategies and functions of such
occasional profamilial tendencies, we can begin to discern how Christian families were
molded to fit new Christian identities in the fluctuating period; and how the family itself
exerted a measure of influence on those newly fashioned identities.
56
Through the bonds of
kinship the Cappadocians knew exactly what obligations they owed to each other, as well as
what extraordinary (p.111) privileges such kinship provided. Thus, the Cappadocians claim
of certain martyrs as their kin takes on a much more momentous meaning, extending their
ancestry back in history to the martyrs and their individual family members forward into
eternity as saints.
Macrinas, Basils, and Gregory of Nyssas Family
Nyssens Life of Saint Macrina and Nazianzens Panegyric on St. Basil, supplemented with
bits of biographical information scattered throughout letters, give a good sketch of Macrinas,
Basils, and Gregory of Nyssas family. Both sets of their grandparents were Christian (see
table 3.1). Their paternal grandparents, Elder Basil and Elder Macrina, were from Pontus.
When the last persecution broke out under Maximin Daia, around 305306, the couple spent
seven years hiding in the Pontian mountains. After it ended, they apparently were able to
retrieve almost all of their considerable property. They probably had (p.112) other children
in addition to their son Basil, since there are references to paternal relatives in Neocaesarea
who would play a part in their nephews and nieces lives later on.
57
Their son Basil would
become the father of Macrina, Basil, Naucratius, Gregory of Nyssa, Peter, and four other
daughters.
Table 3.1 Genealogies of the Two Families
Page 11 of 55
Page 12 of 55
Their maternal grandparents were from Caesarea. They had at least two children, Emmelia
(later the mother of Macrina, Basil, Gregory, and their siblings) and her brother Gregory,
named in letters as Uncle Gregory, who became a bishop in Caesarea.
58
These
grandparents, too, were wealthy landholders with considerable status, but they left
everything when they fled for safety during the persecution. The grandmother died of
natural causes during the ordeal, and the grandfather died a martyr.
When Basil, a famous advocate and teacher in Pontus, and Emmelia married, probably in the
mid-320s, they brought together a good deal of money and property. They united two
prestigious families and secured a future of privilege, wealth, power, and status for their
progeny. Macrina was their oldest of nine children, followed by Basil, the two probably born
between 327 and 331, respectively. They were joined by another brother, Naucratius, and
then by Gregory and four other sisters, although no one is quite certain of their birth
order.
59
What is certain is that Peter was born last, around 343. One or two of the sisters
could have been born between Macrina and Basil, since Basil wrote his tract To Young
Adolescents for his nephews, the children of at least one of his sisters. These nephews would
have been old enough to correspond with their uncle in the 360s only if their mother, or
respective mothers, had been born in the early 330s.
60
One daughter was most likely named Theosebeia, though this is by no means agreed upon.
Some scholars think she became a nun with her sister Macrina. Based on the following
evidence, I think that this daughter, Theosebeia, was married to a priest named Gregory.
61
Gregory of Nazianzus wrote (p.113) Letter 197 to console Gregory of Nyssa on the death
of his holy and blessed sister, Theosebeia, the consort of a priest (syzygos). Nazianzens
praise of her is effulgent and proper. He wrote the letter late in his life, in the 380s or 390s.
In Epigrams 161 and 164, he also praises deceased Emmelia and her child (daughter),
Theosebeia, respectively:
Emmelia is dead. What can be said? Having given to life the light of so many children,
both sons and daughters married and unmarried? This one alone of mortals had
wonderful children and many children; Three of them were famous priests and one
was the spouse of a priest, and the other siblings like an army of the bright ones.
62
And you, Theosebia, child of famous Emmelia, truly spouse of great Gregory, here you
lie under the holy ground, support of pious women, you departed life ripe in years in
fullness.
63
From all three texts we know that Theosebeia was the child of Emmelia, making her the sister
of Gregory of Nyssa, Basil, and Macrina. We also know that she was the syzygos, commonly
known as the wife or consort, of a priest named Gregory. In none of these writings does
Nazianzen say unequivocally that Theosebeia is the wife of Gregory of Nyssa, but only that
she was married to a priest named Gregory. Moreover, the name Gregory was very
common, and it seems most likely that this sister was married to a priest of that name.
As the father of such a prominent family, Basil made sure that his eldest daughter Macrina
was betrothed to a young man from an equally distinguished family. And as a dutiful
daughter, she would have married at the appropriate age had the young man not died. In the
interest of his daughters future, her father wanted to find her another fianc, but Macrina
Page 13 of 55
outmaneuvered his autocratic intervention by appealing to the eternal world. She stated that
her true and only husband was alive in heaven, and she vowed that she would someday after
her death join her betrothed, but in this life she would remain as she was. Such reasoning
convinced her father, and he allowed Macrina to dedicate her life to virginity.
When he died shortly after their son Peters birth, approximately 343, Basil left his wife
Emmelia a widow. Macrina, now fatherless, was then around sixteen years old and had
already begun assuming all the responsibilities of Peters care, a task that relieved her
mother considerably. Shocked by Basils (p.114) death, both Macrina and Emmelia had to
reorient their lives. In the next few years, Emmelia executed the responsibilities of sole
ruler of the household quite admirably, managing her vast estates and arranging the
marriages of her four other daughters. For each of her four sons she secured a fine
education and consolidated an inheritance.
64
By 345, Emmelia completed the physical
transition to a new life. Emmelia had moved all the children remaining at home (Macrina,
Gregory, Naucratius, and Peter), together with the entire household of servants and slaves,
from Neocaesarea to their huge Pontian estate in Annesi on the Iris River. During those
years the oldest son, Basil, was an adolescent attending school in Caesarea, where he met his
lifelong friend, Gregory of Nazianzus.
In the next dozen years, Macrinas strong inclinations toward the ascetic life effected a
spiritual transition in the household, turning it into two ascetic communities, one female and
one male.
65
It must be remembered here, however, that in the fourth century, to the
degree that some monasteries were able to distinguish themselves as a unique household
form, the distinction was accomplished by means of cultural tools, not legal distinctions.
66
Naucratius, too, was drawn to asceticism, forgoing the worldly rewards of his innate gifts of
physical beauty, athleticism, and sharp intelligence for the spiritual life of poverty, simplicity,
and prayer. Around 352, he and his slave Chrysaphius left the main house and lived in the
forest, where their only sustenance came from what they could hunt or gather. Naucratius
made it his mission to share his provisions with needy old people in the area. In the meantime,
Basil had gone to study in Constantinople and then Athens. Gregory and Peter remained
under Macrinas tutelage until Gregory was old enough to go to school in Caesarea, around
348.
When Basil returned to Pontus in 356357, he found his mother and sister performing
household chores like washerwomen and scullery maids, right along with those he
remembered as the servants and slaves. He also found that everyone in the household now
worked, prayed, and ate together. There was no longer any distinction in dress, rank, or
duties in the household, since Macrina had convinced her mother that the better life was one
of renunciation, work, and prayer. Basil had been back a short time, perhaps only a year,
when Naucratius and the slave Chrysaphius died in a tragic fishing accident.
67
Emmelia was
so inconsolable that Macrina emerged as the only stabilizing influence in the family. Basil
eventually honored his brothers memory by continuing his way of (p.115) life and setting
up an ascetic abode not far from his family. There seems no doubt that Naucratius life and
death had influenced that decision.
68
As the first step, Basil was baptized around this time, at age twenty-seven. He was successful
in urging his best friend, Gregory of Nazianzus, to join him in his retreat on the family
Page 14 of 55
property at Annesi. They spent roughly two years there, writing and compiling the Philokalia,
the classic collection of sayings of Origen and other Fathers for those interested in pursuing
the spiritual life. By 360, the clergy of Caesarea enlisted Basil to help them in the Arian
disputes, drawing him out of retreat into the public world of ecclesiastical politics. In 364, he
was ordained a priest by Eusebius of Caesarea, but left soon after because of a fight with the
bishop.
69
In 370, he was elected bishop of Caesarea, the year before Emmelias death. Basil
himself would live only nine more years, but they were packed full of events that he
instigated, accomplishments that he fought for, and brilliant theological treatises that he
created. Basils efforts during his episcopacy changed the course of the Church in theology,
monasticism, institutional philanthropy, canon law, and relations with the imperial court.
Basil had an equally significant impact on his immediate kin. Though Macrina had taught both
her brothers Gregory of Nyssa and Peter in their younger years, Gregory later would speak
of both Basil and Macrina as his greatest teachers in everything.
70
When Nyssen was at
school in Caesarea in his late teens or early twenties, he traveled back and forth from Annesi.
It was on one of his trips home that his mother prevailed upon him to attend the panegyris
for the Forty Martyrs at the shrine she had just built at Ibora, around 355. Gregory agreed
to attend, very reluctantly. To his great surprise and terror, he was scolded severely by the
Forty Martyrs in a dream, since he had slipped away from the liturgy and fell asleep in the
garden.
71
The incident with the Forty Martyrs had a profound effect on him, influencing the
rest of his life. And although he does not directly say the incident was the cause, within
approximately two years he was baptized.
After Gregory finished his schooling in Caesarea, he pursued a career as a rhetorician, from
approximately 358 to 365, and was also ordained a reader. His friend Nazianzen upbraided
him for choosing rhetoric over a life in the Church. Nyssen obviously had some ambivalence
about such a decision previously, (p.116) since Basil mentions that he wanted his brother to
join him in the monastery.
72
In fact, Nyssen never mentions his involvement at the retreat in
Pontus in any of his writings.
73
What is certain is that Macrina finally convinced him to
abandon his secular career and retire to Basils monastery, around 365, right around the
time Basil went to Caesarea permanently. Up to this point, the adult Gregory had been the
least involved in his familys experiments in monastic living.
74
But one must remember that he
had been there from the beginning, and throughout his boyhood he witnessed the entire
evolution of these two family monasteries.
A long tradition claims that Gregory was married during his career as a rhetorician, but the
evidence is inconclusive.
75
The strongest advocates for this position even think that his wifes
name was Theosebeia, positing that it is Nyssens wife who is the subject of Nazianzens
Letter 197. But the letter does not say this. As we examined before in the context of the
identity of Theosebeia as a sister of the siblings, in the letter Nazianzen calls her Nyssens
sister and the wife, or consort, of a priest. What is more, Epigram 164 praises Theosebeia,
wife of a priest named Gregory, as the child of Emmelia, not her daughter-in-law. And this
Theosebeia dies when Nyssen is old. If this Theosebeia was not (p.117) Nyssens sister but
his wife, Nazianzen would have taken every opportunity to identify Gregory of Nyssa as that
very priest and husband of Theosebeia. And at the time Nazianzen wrote the letter and the
two epigrams, Nyssen was not a priest; he was already ordained the bishop of Nyssa. Yet if
Nyssen had had a wife, she probably still would have been alive in 365, when he left the
Page 15 of 55
career in rhetoric; and thus it is odd that there is no mention of her. Nor is there any
mention of her, her early death, or any arrangements to be made for her when he left his
career and entered the monastic life. If Gregory of Nyssa was married, and I do not know
that he was, we simply do not know the name of his wife.
Gregory of Nyssa watched his brothers meteoric rise in the Church to become the bishop of
Caesarea. But Nyssen also unwittingly became a pawn in Basils strategies against the Arians
and the imperial court when Basil forced his younger brother to become bishop of the
obscure village of Nyssa in 372. During the first five years of his episcopal career, Nyssen
unfortunately fell victim to the pro-Arian policies of Emperor Valens. Twice he was brought up
on fraudulent charges; and in 374, he was deposed and banished to Seleucia. It was during
the three years of the seclusion of his exile (374377) that he was his most productive,
writing some of his most important theological tracts.
76
Gregory returned to his see after Valens death in 378. But he would spend little time in
Nyssa, since he would soon become an effective representative of the Orthodox position at
many different councils and churches during the next few years. Gregorys recognition as an
Orthodox statesman in both imperial and ecclesiastical circles spread far beyond Asia Minor.
This is most evident in the dynamic leadership role he played in the proceedings at the
Council of Constantinople in 381.
During this period, both Basil and Macrina died in close succession379 and 380,
respectively. Their deaths affected Gregory deeply, and he wrote memorials for each of his
siblings. The Life of Saint Macrina is a masterpiece, for not only does he honor Macrina in the
work but he also preserves precious details of the entire familys story. Gregorys
accomplishments in the next fifteen years of his life demonstrate how successfully he took on
the role of responsible leader after his siblings deaths. He died in 395.
(p.118) The evidence for Nyssens interactions and influence over the youngest sibling,
Peter, is sparse and comes late in both of their lives. Peter stayed within the family until Basil
and Macrina died. He would have been only two years old (at the most) when his family
moved to the country estate, so he literally grew up in the monastic environment of Annesi.
While under the careful watch of Macrina, Peter modeled himself after his brothers,
Naucratius and Basil, and eventually entered the monastic life at the compound. He never left
Pontus. After Basil went to Caesarea, Peter became the superior of his brothers monastic
compound; and apparently even while Nyssen was there. Peter was ordained a priest by
Basil in 370, and he remained in Annesi.
During the famine of 368369, Peter and his community organized a system of food
distribution. Peters considerable inheritance from his family must have allowed this aid to
reach as many people as possible. Soon after Macrinas death in 381, his brother Gregory of
Nyssa saw the opportunity to make Peter a bishop. Gregory was called to Sebasteia to settle
an ecclesiastical dispute over the selection of the next bishop. With Gregorys considerable
influence Peter was elected bishop of Sebasteia. Peter died a few years before Gregory,
sometime in 392393.
Important Dynamics in Their Family
From the written evidence of the siblings relationships, Basil and Gregory were close, and
Page 16 of 55
Macrina and Gregory were even closer. But no letter or document indicates communication
between Macrina and Basil after he left for Caesarea. Basils silence on his extraordinary
older sister Macrina is as shocking as it is noisy, leaving much room for speculation about
their possible estrangement. Gregory claims that it was Macrina who straightened out the
arrogant, young Basil when he returned from Athens. In fact, this is the only reference to any
interaction between them. Maybe in Basils view she was the bossy, omniscient, older sister.
And yet Gregory unequivocally purports that Macrina guided Basil to become an ascetic.
77
Such influence is by no means certain, of course, since he could as easily have modeled
himself on two other ascetics who were influential in his life: Eustathius of Sebasteia, a mentor
of Basils and a pioneer in asceticism; and his own brother, Naucratius. Whatever the case,
when Nyssen makes such a claim about Macrinas influence on Basil, he both honored his
recently deceased siblings and brought the two together. Gregorys claim had an additional
advantage of protecting Basils memory and especially of excising Eustathius of Sebasteias
influence on aspects of Basils theology (p.119) and asceticism. Basils friendship with
Eustathius had ended bitterly in 373, after Eustathius repeatedly accused Basil of
Sabellianism.
78
While it remains an unsettling fact that Basil never mentions his older sister in any letter or
extant tract, Gregorys relationship with their sister is sharply different. Macrina was a buffer
for Gregory, even a refuge for him in the face of his great master and teacher, brother
Basil. In her lifelong role as teacher and spiritual center of the family, Macrina served as a
sounding board for Gregory. He extols her wisdom, care, and patience in both the Life of
Saint Macrina and On the Soul and Resurrection. His reliance on Macrinas powerful
steadiness and devotion is clear in Letter 19: My sister was my teacher of life, my mother
after my mother, since such boldness of speech did she have towards God that she was a
tower of strength and a shield of contentment, just as the Scriptures say.
79
The intensity of Nyssens relationship with his impressive older brother by no means
precluded his respect for Basil. Through their correspondence and in the course of their
interactions, the two seem genuinely fond of each other, although they were forever unequal.
Even though he made Gregory bishop of Nyssa in 371, Basils correspondence exposes the
fact that he had little confidence in Gregorys administrative acumen. Basil was heavy-handed
in his orders to his younger brother and in his chastisements of the way he conducted
business. For his part, Gregory seems to have been constantly overwhelmed by Basil. He
alternated between awe and resentment of Basil, bridling under his authoritarianism, having
no recourse but Macrinas patient ear.
The following episodes illustrate the nearly limitless extent to which Basil and Gregory could
stretch their bonds of kinship. In 371, Basil was brought back to his own family owing to the
grief he felt at Emmelias death and the misunderstanding he had with his mothers brother,
Uncle Gregory, a bishop in Caesarea.
80
Basil had openly campaigned to be consecrated as
bishop of Caesarea the year before. Many local bishops had opposed his consecration, and
Uncle Gregory was one of them. Until then, Uncle Gregory had been quite gracious to his
talented nephew, helping him since his arrival in Caesarea as a priest.
In an attempt to heal the family dissension, Gregory of Nyssa forged three letters of
reconciliation to Basil in the name of Uncle Gregory. Their old uncle (p.120) found out about
Page 17 of 55
the first letter and repudiated it, embarrassing Basil so much that he wished for the earth to
swallow him up. When Basil found out that the other two were forgeries as well, he was
justifiably outraged. He scolds his brother Gregory in Letter 58 by saying, How stupid do
you think I am that I would fall for the same ruse three times? I write attacking your
simplicity, which I see plainly to be neither what generally becomes a Christian man nor is
appropriate to the present emergency.
81
Succinctly he tells his brother, Mind your own
business, since you are an unworthy minister of things so great.
82
What is most interesting is that Basil justifies upbraiding Gregory on grounds of their being
related. He takes the bonds of kinship very seriously. You ought to have kept in mind that
you are my brother, and have not yet forgotten the ties of nature, and do not regard me in
the light of an enemy, for I have entered on a life which is wearing out my strength.
83
He
blames Gregory for warring with him, instead of coming to his aid and sharing in his troubles.
Even a good friend would have done as much. But from Basils point of view Gregorys
actions were even worse, since they showed no family loyalty or solidarity. He impugns
Gregory most effectively with a quote from Ecclesiasticus: Kindred and helpers are against
times of trouble.
84
Basil bases his strongest arguments about kinship in Letter 59, which he writes to his uncle
begging him not to cut him off. Basils ardor exposes how much he prized his uncles
affections, as he reminds him that he had always been as a father to him. One is left with the
impression that Uncle Gregory had demonstrated more care for him all his life, like father to
son, than their kinship, uncle to nephew, would have demanded.
85
The entire episode apparently came to an end with Letter 60 to his uncle. The letter has a
tone of overall relief that relations both with his uncle and his brother were mended. He
reports how happy he was to receive his brother who brought another letter from Uncle
Gregorythis one legitimatein a jovial, rough-and-tumble way: Why not, since he is my
brother and such a brother?
86
Nor had Basil lost any affection for younger Gregory: God
forbid that I should ever so feel as to forget the ties of nature and be at war with those who
are near and dear to me. I need not add to my life any doleful episode of quarrel (p.121)
between kith and kin.
87
Basil seals the lighthearted introduction by requesting Uncle
Gregorys continued solicitations; along with his prayers, he asks for care for me in all
things, as your own relative.
88
Basil also hopes for a conversation with his uncle, but he
would need a letter confirming it, since he cannot depend on his brother as a messenger,
since Gregory had fabricated so much before!
89
Not all of the interactions between the brothers were negative, nor do they all reflect Basils
pressuring of Gregory. Sometime in the late 360s, when Gregory was still living in the family
monastic estates in Pontus, Basil asked him to write On Virginity.
90
This treatise was the fruit
of lively theological exchanges between the two brothers. Letter 38 of Basil to Gregory is a
remarkable testimony to this exchange. It rehearses very clearly the difference between
hypostasis and ousia, lest you fall into similar error.
91
That Basil continued to rely
unwaveringly on Gregorys theological perspicacity while seeking to strengthen his brothers
weak political skills in order to advance the Orthodox cause is abundantly clear in his
correspondence.
92
The perils of such a situation are all too obvious in Letter 100, written in
372, in which he bemoans the fact that Gregory in all his simplicity summoned a synod in
Page 18 of 55
Ancyra, unknowingly thwarting all Basils efforts.
93
Basils letters show much less annoyance toward his brother after Gregory is exiled by the
Arians in 374. Many of those letters, in fact, reveal a brotherly protectiveness toward
Gregory. A case in point is Letter 225, which, among many other things, explains the reasons
that Gregorys trial was delayed, apparently because of irregularities in Gregorys
consecration and his alleged embezzlement of church funds. Basil defends his brother
staunchly, explaining that he is suffering greatly from a terrible flu and from kidney disease,
chronic from youth, about which only a brother would know.
94
Letter 215 explains why his
God-beloved brother Gregory could not possibly go to Rome in the winter. Not only is he an
unsuitable envoy to Damascus (a closer destination than Rome), he is too inexperienced in
ecclesiastical affairs to handle the machinations of those who are wily, ingenuous, and
arrogant.
95
Letters 231, 237, and (p.122) 239 all show how tirelessly Basil worked on
Gregorys behalf when he was exiled. Throughout them all, Basil reveals outrage at the
injustice of the charges, respect for his brothers mature courage, and protective care for
Gregorys well-being.
96
Basils ideas about the boundaries of kinship are perhaps best expressed in his letter about
his syntrophos, translated clumsily as foster-brother.
97
Basil wrote this letter sometime in
the late 360s to an unnamed official on behalf of his foster brother, who was the son of his
nurse and with whom he grew up. Some misunderstanding with Basils natal house in Pontus
occasioned the letter, since Basil is quite concerned that his foster brother still be able to
either live in it or receive benefit from it, probably from rent money. Basil wants to make sure
that the official spare the house for both his foster brother and himself, since they both still
get their support from the natal house. In addition, Basil stipulates that the slaves, which had
been bequeathed to the foster brother by his parents for his use and benefit, should revert
to Basil after the foster brother should die. Basils letter reveals a unique situation about
someone who was part of the household, and by extension, part of the family.
Family of Gregory of Nazianzus
The paternal grandparents of Gregory of Nazianzus were not Christians but Hypsistarians.
(see table 3.1) The sect worshipped the God the highest, or hypsistos, and was rather
common throughout the northern coastal regions of the Black Sea and the Bosphorus. Their
ideas about God derived from a syncretized monotheism, combining elements of the
Cappadocian cult of Zeus Sabazios with the Jewish God Yahweh Sabaoth. Hypsistarians
accordingly amalgamated religious practices from paganism and Judaism. While they rejected
idols and pagan sacrifices, they worshipped fire and light and refused the title Father for
God. They observed some Jewish laws, including those regarding the Sabbath and certain
food laws, yet they rejected circumcision.
98
Gregory of Nazianzus does not mention his
grandparents names when he describes the family history of his beloved father, Elder
Gregory. This is perhaps not surprising, since Elder Gregory grew up a Hypsistarian.
Gregory of Nazianzus maternal grandparents were Philtatus and Gorgonia.
99
They had
three childrenAmphilochius, Gregory, and Nonnathe latter of (p.123) whom would
become Gregorys mother.
100
Athough Gregory makes rather vague references to the
Christian ancestry of his mother Nonna, he does not pursue the issue.
101
When Elder
Gregory married Nonna, she was Christian and he was a Hypsistarian. It is difficult to imagine
Page 19 of 55
the circumstances under which a Christian father would have arranged a marriage for his
daughter with a Hypsistarian. It is, therefore, likely that only one of her parents was
Christian.
102
It is equally possible that the persecution had something to do with her
marriage to a non-Christian, or that the marriage alliance so benefited Philtatus financially that
Nonna was instructed to completely overlook her future husbands religion.
In any case, the marriage of Gregory and Nonna took place in the mid- to late-320s, and they
lived thereafter in the small town of Nazianzus, Cappadocia.
103
Nonna and Elder Gregory
had three childrenGorgonia, Gregory, and Caesariusborn in that order, with Gregorys
birth date sometime between 328 and 331. During the early years of her marriage, Nonna
worked at her husbands conversion to Christianity slowly and steadily, like water constantly
striking a rock.
104
Her husband was baptized at age fifty, when their son Gregory was
about five years old. Elder Gregorys mother, Gorgonia, disinherited her son for a while
because he had converted.
105
Right after Bishop Leontius of Caesarea baptized Elder
Gregory, he consecrated him bishop of Nazianzus. Elder Gregory left his post as a town
administrator and took up his new position with exemplary patience and enduring devotion to
the Christian community. In the annals of the Church, Nonna would end up being one of the
last episcopal wives.
106
Gregory of Nazianzus parents realized that their son was exceptionally bright when he was
completing the first level of his studies in Caesarea, where he first met Basil. They sent
Gregory off to Athens for further schooling around 347, and then on to Caesarea in Palestine
and Alexandria. Gregory thrived in the intellectual environment at Athens, defending his
friend Basil, sparring with his classmate Julian (the future emperor), and developing his
lifelong passion for the secluded, scholarly life. Gregory stayed in Athens for roughly ten
years. At Basils insistence, Gregory returned to Cappadocia to join him at the (p.124)
retreat in Pontus. He stayed with Basil for three years only, since Elder Gregorys poor
health required that his son return in 360 to Nazianzus to help him.
Gregory of Nazianzus must have been baptized during this period because his father
ordained him a priest on Christmas day in 361, not long after he returned from Athens. Elder
Gregory seemed to have considered his own vocation a family business and thus hoped his
son would succeed him first as priest and then as bishop, in a kind of Christian version of
Roman curial responsibilities. Horrified, Gregory fled to Pontus until Easter. When he
returned, he delivered an apologetic sermon on Easter day to his fathers congregation,
explaining his flight in biblical terms, exposing his own feelings of unworthiness to be a
priest.
107
Such patterns would characterize Gregorys behavior the rest of his life. Several more times
Gregory felt himself burdened with responsibilities he did not want to shoulder and that
were foisted on him by otherseither fairly or unfairlywho believed he had leadership
qualities. Whether in truth he had these qualities, he certainly strove consistently throughout
his life to prove otherwise. Unlike his friend Basil, Gregory thrived in solitude; he wanted only
to study, write, and pray. As Gregory put it, My greatest business always is to keep free
from business.
108
Basil never really understood Gregorys sensitive proclivities. To serve
his own political purposes, in 370 Basil forcibly consecrated Gregory as bishop of Sasima, a
miserable village. Gregory was again astounded and dismayed, feeling utterly betrayed by
Page 20 of 55
his friend. Although he did not physically run away this time, and he was barred from taking
possession of his see by the reigning Arian bishop Anthimos, Gregory always did his best to
stay out of the administrative limelight. Even though he was a bishop, he spent the next four
years helping his ailing father with the home parish in Nazianzus, accepting his priestly
responsibilities in terms of the family business: For sweet it is to inherit a fathers toils, and
this flock is more familiar than a strange and foreign one.
109
After both his father and mother died in 374, Gregory was free of parental obligations, and
he relished his life of seclusion at the shrine of St. Thecla in Seleucia. However, his scholarly
pursuits there were eventually interrupted in 379. The Orthodox clergy of Constantinople,
backed by Emperor Theodosius I, prevailed on him to come to Constantinople as their bishop
and eradicate the Arianism there. Gregory bent to their pressure, but his stay as bishop was
(p.125) neither successful in ridding the city of Arians nor in quelling the sharp factionalism
at the Council of Constantinople in 381. He willingly resigned his post that same year and
retired to the peace and quiet of Nazianzus, close to the shrine of the martyrs. There, he
spent the years until his death, in 394, writing many letters, poems, and epigrams.
Gregorys older sister, Gorgonia, was married to a man named Alypius probably early in the
340s, when Gregory was at school in Caesarea. It seems Gregory did not know him very
well, which is rather surprising.
110
Even though Gorgonia would have left her own family for
her husbands house, she and Alypius could not have lived too far from Nazianzus, since her
parents were able to be at her house when she died. Gorgonia was raised a Christian, but
she was not baptized until immediately before her death in 369. Whether Alypius came from a
similar religious background is unknown, but Gregory writes that as she lay on her
deathbed, Gorgonia convinced her husband to be baptized.
Alypius was a rich landowner, and Gorgonia had a large household to manage. She and
Alypius had three daughtersAlypiana, Eugenia, and Nonna. Alypiana married Nicobulus
around 365, so Gorgonia lived long enough probably to have seen at least one grandchild.
Nonnas grandchildren and great-grandchildren were more than likely frequent guests at
their grandparents house in Nazianzus. As they matured, Gregory took on a paternal role
for his nieces and their children.
111
Gorgonias lifestyle and accomplishments bear the distinct mark of Nonnas influence. Her
daughter was educated in Scripture and the faith. She made sure her own children and
husband practiced Christian piety. Gorgonia cultivated modesty and simplicity, qualities that
could not have come easily given her class, wealth, and status as a noble matron.
112
She was
generous with time and money, even offering her house as accommodation to many.
Gorgonia balanced her obligations of wife, mother, and manager with her disciplined life of
Christian piety, all within the context of a grand estate.
Caesarius was the youngest of Gorgonias and Gregorys siblings and was probably born
sometime between 332 and 335. After he finished his schooling in Caesarea, his parents sent
him to Alexandria, since he wanted to become a doctor and that city had the best science
faculty. Caesarius returned to Constantinople in 357, enticed by a sparkling career in the new
capital. From all evidence, emperor Constantius was willing to do just about anything to keep
him there. But his older brothers wheedling caused Caesarius to change his mind (p.126)
and to return to Nazianzus. Gregory later gloated, quite gratified that his brother
Page 21 of 55
preferred him to the Emperor.
113
Caesarius stay in Nazianzus did not last long. Gregory could not convince him that he was
pursuing vain ambitions and glory, and Caesarius left shortly for a stellar position in the
capital. When Julian became emperor, Gregory worried even more about Caesarius chosen
career and the negative influences of court life. The combined pressures of Julians anti-
Christian policies and Gregorys powers of persuasion forced Caesarius to reconsider.
Fortunately for Caesarius, Julian died soon after this, and Caesarius was able to take up
Emperor Valens offer to become quaestor in Bithynia. Caesarius was a cultivated man in the
highest circle of the court, and in a short time he became quite rich. He probably would
eventually have married had he not died suddenly of an illness in 369. He had been baptized
at Easter of that year. Elder Gregory and Nonna made all the arrangements to bury their
son, and stoically Nonna forced herself to show no grief, even wearing her brightest clothes
for the occasion.
114
Adding to this sadness, she and Elder Gregory would attend their
daughter Gorgonias funeral later that year.
Important Dynamics in Nazianzens Family
Gregory of Nazianzus relationship to his parents and siblings is difficult to tease out of his
writings, since he wrote very little to or about them when they were alive. The intriguing
evidence, nevertheless, allows us the following observations. He was utterly devoted to his
parents and made special accommodations at least three times in his life either to work with
them or to take care of them. When Basil kept reminding him that he had promised to stay
year-round in Annesi at the monastic retreat, Nazianzen replied that he must spend half the
year with his parents. Such a duty was a divine commandment and allowed him to break his
promise to Basil. One law prevailed against another; I mean the law which bids us honour
our parents overpowered the law of friendship and intercourse. I shall be with you half the
time and half of it you will be with me, that we may have the whole in common and so it will
be arranged in such a way that my parents will not be grieved, and yet I shall gain you.
115
Nazianzen took the Mosaic injunction to honor ones parents quite seriously and used it as
the basis for all his interactions with his relatives. (p.127) The injunction to tend ones
parents or spouse in old age was written in the book of Christ.
116
Nazianzen spent a great deal of his adult life with his father, and his genuine affection for him
is obvious. Elder Gregory was, of course, set apart from his son through venerable age, his
authority as his father, and his authority as a bishop. Yet as a son, Nazianzen did not envy his
father and did not compete with him. His fathers practical, hands-on quality of ministering to
his parish would elude Gregory all of his life, although he benefited from his fathers constant
devotion to his flock in Nazianzus. Elder Gregory seems to have been austere, simple, and
occasionally unsympathetic, even brutal.
117
His son was much more introspective,
sensitive, studious, and at times too worried excessively about others opinions of himself.
Yet Nazianzens evident and deep-seated love for his father makes their differences less
significant. Nazianzen fled to Pontus for four months after his father ordained him, but that
escape had much more to do with his qualms about becoming a priest than a permanent rift
with his father. In short, he got over his frustrations with his father. All his writings betray
that fact. I have been overpowered by the old age of my father, and to use moderate terms,
the kindliness of my friend. Therefore I now consent to share in the cares of my excellent
Page 22 of 55
father, like an eaglet, not quite vainly flying close to a mighty and soaring eagle.
118
Letter 7, written to his brother Caesarius in 362, gives a rare, wonderful glimpse at the
familys dynamics during a crisis. There, Gregory of Nazianzus chastises his brother for
being employed by the apostate Emperor Julian at the court in Constantinople. Gregory is
quite explicit that it is he who has to deal with their fathers intense distress that Caesarius is
serving Emperor Julian, the enemy of the Church. What is he to do with their father who is so
upset that he is even disgusted with life itself?
119
By virtue of their fathers episcopal office, Caesarius job could not be concealed as a private
family matter. In fact, the whole community was bandying about rumors and blandishments.
As a bishop, Elder Gregory had a very public role in their community. The fact that
Caesarius, son of the bishop, was serving the godless Emperor had become a public matter
in Nazianzus. It is no wonder that Elder Gregory was upset and humiliated. Elder Gregory
must have relied heavily on Nazianzens emotional support at that time, since the latter
explains (p.128) that he consoles and comforts him as best I can.
120
Gregory repeatedly
stresses how he assured his father that Caesarius would return to his senses and resign
such a dishonorable position.
The affair of Caesarius employment at Julians court shows what the family defined as
acceptable in relationships, what was demanded by kinship, and what was prohibited. After
detailing all the harm Caesarius was causing their father, Gregory saves the best for last
Nonnas likely reaction. Gregory was utterly devoted to his mother, stating quite assuredly in
several places that he was her favorite child.
121
But Gregory wrote very little about Nonna
outside the context of funeral rhetoric, and his purpose there is to detail her extravagant
piety and generosity. Nonna dominated her marriage and conducted the household with
such particular discretion that her activities were undetectable to the outside world. It is
clear that Nonnas ideals set the standard for Gregorys own behavior, and he did his utmost
to live up to her expectations throughout his life. Gregory took care of Nonna during her
illness before she died in 374. On that occasion, he explained to Basil why he could not visit
him, For I am sitting at the side of my dear lady, my mother who has already been suffering
for a long time from sickness. If I would not leave her in an uncertain state, please know I
would not deprive myself of your company.
122
Thus, a great deal was at stake as Caesarius jeopardized the entire familys reputation and
risked alienating their mother, Nonna. Gregory shows that he proceeded with caution as he
nearly threatens Caesarius. Gregory confesses that they were hiding truth from their
mother: until now we have kept the secret through many inventive diversions, implying
that their strategies of deception could not go on indefinitely.
123
He declares that were
Nonna to know the truth about Caesarius, she would be utterly inconsolable, since as a
woman she is small minded and through her great piety is otherwise unable to balance such
matters and feelings!
124
Such claims about his mother are startling because they are completely out of character. To
attribute to Nonna a small mind owing to her gender is a rhetorical trope intended to make
Caesarius capitulate to Gregorys wishes. Such a claim contradicts all that Gregory ever
wrote about Nonna. He quickly regroups, however, and threatens a more frightening and
Page 23 of 55
truthful scenario. (p.129) Essentially he says that there is no predicting what Nonna might
do, based on her great piety. This is a much more powerful impetus that Caesarius would
certainly recognize in keeping with his mothers character than the offhanded clich, small
mind of a woman.
What is more, both her sons would have known immediately that their mother would find it
impossible to bear the public humiliation caused by Caesarius position at court. Discretion in
public, based on her great piety, was a virtue most rare and hard-won. It was one Nonna
had cultivated steadily all her life. Both her sons knew that Caesarius career was
jeopardizing their mothers reputation and the honor of the family.
Finally, the letter also exposes Gregorys relationship to his younger, more urbane brother.
There is no doubt that Gregory was very proud of Caesarius accomplishments; but in
accepting a position with Julian, Caesarius ambition had put him in a perilous situation.
Gregory points out to Caesarius that he had lost all sight of the consequences of his actions,
through his own greedy desire for money and position. Not only was he harming his family,
he was also losing himself. Caesarius was so blinded by greed that he was in a precarious
dilemma, and both outcomes were bleak. In both cases, Julian would pressure him with such
intensity that he would either be demoted to an inferior position or abandon Christianity to
advance his own career. Whatever happened, Caesarius would lose, and in the latter case he
would lose his soul for eternity, hav[ing] a share in the smoke, if not the fire.
125
Gregory
speaks frankly from the beginning of the letter, wasting no time on polite discourse. At the
end of the letter, Gregory realizes that what he has written may anger his brother, but he
certainly is confident that their own fraternal bond depends on his candor.
Gregorys only other letter to his brother is, in retrospect, a lost opportunity to shower him
with genuine brotherly affection. In 368, Caesarius had miraculously escaped from an
earthquake that destroyed his entire household in Nicaea. Gregorys letter is a short, boring
sermon preaching that his brother should look upon the earthquake as a learning experience,
a natural affliction that should bring him closer to God. It should serve as an occasion for his
thankfulness to God not only for preserving him but also for teaching him that all the things on
earth pass away. This, of course, may be true, but in this context it obscures any warm
emotion, spontaneous relief, or genuine thankfulness Gregory may have felt that Caesarius
was alive! He even admits this at the end, writing, Perhaps I seem to you somewhat of a
bore, by writing to you so often on the same subject, and you will think my letter a piece not
of (p.130) exhortation but of ostentation, so enough of this.
126
Boring exhortation and
ostentation it certainly is. He hints that he has written several times to his brother, but
perhaps Caesarius was too busy recovering from the earthquake to respond. And Gregory
also may have felt guilty that he could not leave his parents in order to go help Caesarius.
Only in the last two sentences does Gregory permit himself the slightest emotion, I wish
especially that I might be with you and share your joy at your preservation, and to talk over
these matters later on.
He must soon have regretted his reserve and preachiness, for only a few months later
Caesarius would die quite young. Then, Gregory captures his sadness and unabashed love in
words: You escaped the roaring menace of the cruel earthquake when Nicaea was leveled
with the ground, and did perish by painful disease. O for your chaste youth, and your
Page 24 of 55
wisdom, beautiful Ceasarius.
127
And to his old school chum Philagrius he expressed his
deepest grief: I do not have Caesarius anymore. I shall say something, even if the emotion is
not consonant with the philosophic life. I deeply love Caesarius, and everything I see reminds
me of him, I embrace him and greet him with a kiss, and I think I see him, go out with him,
and talk with him.
128
Gregorys sixteen emotional epigrams to Caesarius reveal profound
love for his brother.
129
It is no exaggeration to say that conventional biological kinship and all it implies was an
extremely powerful force in Gregory of Nazianzus life. He not only wrote funeral panegyrics
to his sister, brother, and father, he also wrote thirty-five letters to or on behalf of family
members. He wrote 106 epigrams for his family, 81 of which were for his immediate
family.
130
Of the many familial situations Gregory mentions throughout his life, two episodes
stand out as particular examples of how strongly he felt the ties of kinship and the kinds of
behavior they necessitated. In the early 370s, his own cousin, young Amphilochius, found
himself in much the same situation as Gregory: as caretaker for his elderly, sick father.
Gregorys father died in 374, and not long afterward he got word that his Uncle Amphilochius
was angry at him, blaming Gregory for suggesting that his son Amphilochius become bishop
of Iconium. Old Uncle Amphilochius felt that he had been robbed of his son and caretaker. In
fact, it had been Basil of Caesarea orchestrating young Amphilochius consecration that had
recently taken place. Gregory, still in mourning for his own father, became distraught over
the entire situation. He wrote Letter 63 to assuage (p.131) Uncle Amphilochius, while at the
same time trying to exonerate himself. Gregory explains that his own grief prevented him
from coming to visit his uncle, and he invokes the intimate bonds of kinship to make the case
that he and his uncle are in the same situation. He claims that they have both been
tyrannized by their common friend, Basil.
131
They both have suffered loss, he writes, but
his own is worse since his uncle will see his son again. Gregory calls his cousin his brother
and expresses his fear and sorrow that he now has become a bishop, an awesome
responsibility that he, too, bears. In closer, more familiar language he ends the letter, nearly
ordering Uncle Amphilochius to put aside his grief and blame, and to remember that he
formerly had regarded Gregory as his only benefactor.
That Gregory took such a keen interest in the family of his niece Alypiana also confirms how
seriously Gregory took the obligations of kinship. Alypiana, the daughter of Gregorys sister
Gorgonia and her husband Alypius, married Nicobulus, a man of high rank but who, over the
years, was not able to adequately provide for his family. Gregorys correspondence reveals
an interest in the family sustained from 365 onward.
Nicobulus and Alypiana must have been newlyweds when Nazianzen first wrote to the young
man. Nicobulus apparently had commented on the contrast in size between his diminutive
wife and himself. Gregory at first gets into the spirit of Nicobulus joking about his
monstrous size, then counsels him to look beyond her smallness to her formidable virtues
as a devout Christian and industrious wife. Then you will congratulate yourself on your
marriage.
132
The letter almost makes one blush, since it betrays Gregorys clumsiness at
commenting on the transition of the newlyweds to the nuptial state, full of the joys of youthful
intimacy. But Gregorys lack of experience as a husband did not prevent him from acting as a
responsible great uncle, or even as a great-grandfather, presiding over the cares of his
extended family no matter what the situation.
Page 25 of 55
Yet Nicobulus was destined neither for success nor a long life. Gregory wrote Letters 13,
21, and 146148 to help extricate Nicobulus from his terrible legal and financial straits. Letter
13 to his cousin Amphilochius of Iconium and Letter 21 to the prefect Sophronius show that
Nicobulus had gotten into unexpected troubles early in his marriage.
133
Letter 147 is
particularly poignant. Gregory asks the governor to help Nicobulus, justifying this particularly
on the (p.132) duties of kinship. In his view, Nicobulus is worthy of favors since he cares
for Gregory in his old age and sickness.
134
Things never really improved, and by 385, when Nicobulus died, he had left his affairs in
disarray for Alypiana and the children. Gregory wrote Letter 195 to the governor to help out
his widowed niece and her children, especially his grandnephew, his dear, illustrious
Nicobulus.
135
Gregory obviously had a soft spot in his heart for young grandnephew
Nicobulus. His fifteen letters to or for this young man set out to teach him the art of laconic
letter writing, to introduce him to men of influence, and to secure tutors for him.
136
Perhaps
even more important, Gregory loved him greatly, and it is clear that he took great delight in
his stimulating company, whenever Nicobulus could squeeze in a short visit to his great-
uncle.
137
It is almost redundant to conclude that family ties loomed large for the Cappadocian Fathers.
Quite the opposite of renouncing all family ties, they spent a good deal of their lives
reinforcing them in every way afforded them by their status, wealth, and privilege. Their lives
speak to the overriding care they had for preserving the integrity of their families
reputations, as well as the primary place family concerns consistently took for them, no
matter what the situation. And we cannot help but notice the genuine, deep emotions that
openly suffuse their family interactions. Clearly, the Cappadocians practiced the ascetic life
while continuing to sustain the familial obligations and benefits of their natal households. They
must have been keenly aware, however, that their choice to live in celibacy did have
significant repercussions for the future of their families. But now we shall see how they chose
to solve that problem.
Martyrs as Their Ancestors
Of their myriad accomplishments, nothing reveals more explicitly how highly Basil and Nyssen
valued consanguineous kinship than their appropriation of (p.133) three famous saints as
their own relatives. Rather than minimize the importance of blood relationships in favor of
spiritual kinship with the martyrs, as they preached in their ascetic treatises and panegyrics
alike, they instead engaged in a quasi-merger of the two for the benefit of their own family. In
a rather paradoxical, untidy fashion they construct a kind of physical yet spiritual kinship with
these martyrs. Through the process of claiming these famous martyrs as their exclusive
forebears, they not only widened the definition of kinship for their own family but they also
enhanced its prestige and helped secure its future.
Gregory Thaumaturgus
When Basil and his siblings were growing up, Elder Macrina kept the ordeal of the
persecution alive for her grandchildren through rousing stories of heroism of the martyrs.
These riveting accounts reinforced by her indomitable presence had a lasting effect on her
grandchildren. The persecution became the defining event for the way Basils family
understood its role in society and how each member related to each other. The time of the
Page 26 of 55
martyrs assumed mythic proportions for Basil, even when he was fully grown; and it directly
influenced how he would represent his family.
138
When the clergy of Neocaesarea accused Basil of Arianism, his defense went right back to his
grandmother Macrina and her personal connection to their most famous, heroic saint,
Gregory Thaumaturgus.
139
What clearer evidence can there be of my faith, than I was
brought up by my grandmother, blessed woman, who came from you? I mean the
celebrated Macrina who taught me the words of the blessed Gregory; which as far as
memory had preserved down to her day, she cherished herself.
140
He also insisted that
the special quality of Pontus where Gregory Thaumaturgus performed all his miracles was an
integral part of him. Not only did Elder Macrina raise him in Pontus, he kept returning there
quite often to the monastic retreat, because my brothers are now living here.
141
For Basil to refer to his grandmother, to the land of Pontus as his homelandhis patrida
and to Gregory Thaumaturgus as his spiritual father (p.134) was a deft rhetorical
combination since all three are linked by the intimate language of family. He writes to the
Neocaesareans (Pontus) in his own defense:
If it tend much towards intimacy to have the same teachers, there are to you and to
me the same teachers of Gods mysteries, and spiritual Fathers, who from the
beginning were the founders of your Church. I mean the Great Gregory, and all who
succeeded in order to the throne of your episcopate. And truly, if blood
relationships are not to be cast aside, but even contribute greatly to an unbroken
union and fellowship of life, these birthrights also exist between you and us.
142
Through juxtaposing the grandeur of the era of the martyrs with his very personal, childhood
memories of Elder Macrina, he intentionally elevated the status of his family even further. But
by placing the two side by side, he incorporated Gregory Thaumaturgus into the family. His
defense against their accusations of Arianism was embedded in the Pontians own tradition,
and it was a brilliant strategy.
Like his brother, Gregory of Nyssa was deeply devoted to Gregory Thaumaturgus. In 380,
he delivered a panegyric for the saint at the gathering of bishops assembled for an electoral
synod. Although the events Nyssen recounts therein have scarcely any resemblance to the
Thaumaturgus own life, Nyssens version reconfirms his familys power over the Church in
Pontus.
143
What is more, his sermon brings to life the saint whom he claimed was part of
their familys history. To his way of thinking, he was the Thaumaturgus spiritual great-
grandson through his grandmother.
144
Throughout his lengthy panegyric, Nyssen not only
revised the traditions about the Wonderworker, making him the preeminent saint of Pontus,
but also preserved the familys control over the Thaumaturgus image as their spiritual
ancestor.
145
Nyssens panegyric relies on what he heard about the Thaumaturgus as a child combined
with the local lore about him gathered from villages all over Pontus. He probably delivered
the panegyric at the main church in Neocaesarea, since there was no shrine for the
Thaumaturgus.
146
Nyssen deliberately stresses this fact at the end of the panegyric, claiming
that the Thaumaturgus promoted the cult of the martyrs to all his people and that he
purposely had no (p.135) grave so that he would not be ranked with the martyrs.
147
Even
Page 27 of 55
though the Thaumaturgus did not technically die a martyr, the faithful honored him as a
protomartyr like Thecla and Stephen, since he was the preeminent saint of Pontus, founder of
Christianity in Pontus.
148
Nyssen knew that such an ironic statement would have stunned the
audience and only enhanced the greatness of the Thaumaturgus, since they most certainly
did celebrate him as a martyr.
149
Just like his brother, Nyssen evokes the Thaumaturgus through personal memory handed
down through the generations. Both brothers claim the Thaumaturgus as their own kin in two
ways that the laity could not imitate. First, Elder Macrinas link to the Wonderworker fixed
their claim to kinship with him as their spiritual ancestor. But their grandmothers connection
to him easily blurred the distinction between spiritual and physical kinship. Second, linking
themselves to the first bishop of Pontus reinforced their elevated status and authority as
bishops and clerics, and grounded their doctrine in the tradition of sanctity and
orthodoxy.
150
It also extended the gulf between them and the laity, who could never claim
such hereditary sanctity with such an illustrious saint.
Thecla
Gregory Thaumaturgus was only one of a handful of exceedingly popular, powerful saints in
Asia Minor. Thecla of Seleucia, too, had great authority.
151
Exactly like the Thaumaturgus,
Thecla left no body at her death, since a rock opened up and engulfed her, saving her from
hostile criminals.
152
A shrine to St. Thecla soon was erected around the rock, and pilgrims
visited year-round. And exactly as in the case of Gregory Thaumaturgus, the cult grew up
around a place that explains the very absence of relics.
153
Because Thecla performed all
sorts of (p.136) miracles, the laity soon merged her story with the charismatic reputation
of the martyr.
154
So widespread was her cult that Thecla was a common name for women in
the fourth century.
155
Gregory of Nyssa records that his sister Macrina was supposed to have been named Thecla.
While in labor with her first child, Emmelia had a vision of a heavenly figure who repeated
three times that her daughter should be called Thecla. In thanksgiving for the holy visitation,
Emmelia wanted to do so. But she complied with the custom of naming the eldest daughter
after the paternal grandmother and named the child Macrina. Yet this did not prevent
Emmelia from bestowing Thecla on her daughter as her secret name. Gregory says
succinctly that the name foretold the life of the child.
156
We can safely assume that Emmelia was devoted to Thecla and taught her children about the
miraculous powers of the saint. In the Life, Gregory immortalized Macrinas connection to
Thecla and grounded his sister personally in the earliest generations of Christian women by
association with this saint who had accompanied Paul.
157
Yet in terms of kinship, Gregory
does even more. Significantly, he writes that Thecla enters Macrinas life right at the time of
her birth, establishing her connection with the child in name, vocation, and a kind of
godmotherhood. In this way, Gregory implies that Thecla spiritually birthed Macrina and
watched over his sister from that moment on. Macrinas destiny was set by Thecla, the
protomartyr, virgin and martyr, and the new martyr of asceticism.
158
Macrinas kinship with
Thecla as her spiritual daughter was evident in her rejection of marriage and her devotion to
asceticism.
Page 28 of 55
Macrinas kinship with Thecla as her veritable yet spiritual daughter is also played out
resoundingly in her relationship to her mother Emmelia. Gregory states clearly that from a
very early age Macrina became Emmelias teacher, instructing her gradually in the ascetic
life.
159
When brother Naucratius died, Macrina assumed the full reversal of roles with her
mother. Macrina guided Emmelia through mourning by mothering her mother, and she
eventually convinced Emmelia to live the life of complete poverty. Macrina became the
maternal authority of the entire family. Gregory shapes his account around the fact that
Theclas influence as Macrinas spiritual mother and guiding force increased throughout her
life, while Emmelias waned.
(p.137) One of Nyssens major purposes in the Life of Saint Macrina is to claim kinship with
St. Thecla not only for Macrina but also for his family. For both Basil and Gregory, the
paradoxes of sanctity were rooted in familial ground.
160
Gregory conflates the family in a
single genea; all members share the glory of each.
161
A noble family line in the tradition of
fourth-century Cappadocia was no longer enough for Gregory, nor was it acceptable for his
family to be lumped with the laity who were claiming martyrs as adopted ancestors of their
local communities.
162
In an innovative redefinition of blood, his familys connection to the
martyrs embodied an ancestry of sanctity, demonstrably direct and intimate.
The Forty Martyrs of Sebasteia
Sometime between 355 and 358, Emmelia displayed her ardent devotion to the Forty
Martyrs of Sebasteia by building a shrine for them at Ibora, only one mile from the familys
estate in Annesi. It is no accident that the shrine was directly adjacent to her familys crypt,
where her husband Basil and her son Naucratius (ca. + 357) were already (or would be)
buried. To eventually be buried near the martyrs was the ideal for everyone.
163
Bluntly
stated, Emmelia could afford this tangible link between these very popular martyrs and her
family.
164
The crypts proximity to the Forty Martyrs announced the social and economic
prestige of the family, as well as their closeness to, and thus even proprietary attitude
toward, the martyrs. It also publicized their piety through largesse to the community, since
they facilitated the cult through a beautiful shrine where festivals, petitions, and miracles
could take place for everyone. Emmelias sponsorship of the shrine explicitly proclaimed her
familys kinship with the Forty Martyrs in a material way.
Emmelia also fostered the spread of the cult of the Forty Martyrs through her sons Basil and
Gregory. On the day when the relics were brought to the new shrine at Ibora, Emmelia
insisted that Gregory accompany her to the panegyris. (p.138) Twenty-five years later, in
one of his two homilies to the Forty Martyrs, Gregory relates what a personal, life-changing
event it was for him, since the Forty Martyrs intervened in his life that day. When he fell
asleep during the festivities, they came to him in a dream. So frightened was Gregory by
their remonstrations and thrashing with sticks that he changed his life. Within a year or so he
was baptized.
165
It is unimaginable that this was the first time Gregory related this momentous encounter with
the Forty Martyrs. They acted in the role of what later would be called godparent. No
living person had had such an effect on him, leading him to baptism. The Forty Martyrs had
personally intervened as his spiritual mentors, and he was indeed bound to them as a
godchild would be. His relationship with them only reinforced the kinship bonds already
Page 29 of 55
established by his mother, when she built the shrine next to their crypt.
166
Although it is not certain, Basil probably built a shrine to the Forty Martyrs in Caesarea when
he became bishop there.
167
His homily on the Forty Martyrs is much less personal than
those of his brother; rather, he seems to be introducing the Forty Martyrs, so close to his
family, to his new congregation. After all, he was obliged to learn about the local martyrs of
Caesarea, Sts. Gordius, Mamas, and Julitta. But his sincere devotion to them is evident in his
emotional speech, which would have inspired him to build such a shrine. Following his
mothers example, he took on the family obligation to spread the cult to his new city, having
assumed his own kinship with them from his family.
Nevertheless, Basils and Gregorys family claims to specific relationships of kinship with these
martyrs did not by definition completely exclude the laity and other clergy. It did, however,
signify a hierarchy of affiliation with the martyrs. It meant first that their own family held the
highest of Christian ranks, transcribing the human social order onto the spiritual one by
means of their closeness to Gregory the Wonderworker, Thecla, and the Forty Martyrsthe
most popular, famous saints of Asia Minor. In addition, the connections that existed between
their family and those ancestral martyrs conferred the special privileges, benefits, and
expectations on the family. That the saints were martyrs made that kinship richer still. It
implied that their family members participated reciprocally in the heavenly grace and holy
power of those ancestral (p.139) martyrs in the same way as a daughter might get her
grandmothers green eyes or distinctive black hair. Once again boundaries blur. Technically
speaking, kinship with the martyrs was spiritual kinship. But because these ancestral martyrs
had some physical proximity and/or physical contact with their family memberstutelage
from the Thaumaturgus to Elder Macrina, a birthing in the case of Thecla with Macrina, and a
disciplinary action in Gregorys thrashing by the Forty Martyrstheir kinship with these
ancestral martyrs took on tinges of consanguineous kinship, intentionally amalgamating
seemingly mutually exclusive kinds of kinship: biological and spiritual.
For all the other Christians, monastics and laity included, the Cappadocians preached that
everyone could have an adopted, spiritual kinship with the martyrs by honoring the martyrs
at the panegyreis and through imitation of their virtues. Rather than the more socially
confined model of civic patronage, the Cappadocians stressed that all Christians ideally
belonged to the community like members of an adopted family in which each member is
grafted on, in the Pauline sense. Martyrs of each town or region became the adopted
ancestors of all who dwelt there.
168
And, indeed, all the other Christians devoted to the
martyrs could expect their intercession, protection, and even miracles. They related to the
martyrs hierarchically, as children rely on their parents. And because of their kinship with the
faithful, the martyrs answered the laitys prayers and protected them from harm.
169
Though
the Cappadocians do not explicitly say so, by implication everyone elses kinship with the
martyrs was a much less exclusive, less personalized relationship than the ones they were
claiming for their family.
Monastics and laity also had a kinship with the martyrs by actually becoming martyrs through
ascetic discipline. This was most difficult of all and rarely occurred. No longer would the
person be in an interdependent, reciprocal relationship with a martyr; he or she would be a
martyr. As Basil wrote to other bishops when he invited them to attend the panegyreis of Sts.
Page 30 of 55
Eupsychius and Damas, Moreover, there is a kind of blood relationship (suggenes) between
the one living a meticulous life and those who reached perfection through endurance.
170
Attainment of such a feat was open to all, since Basil also challenged his flock: Become a
martyr by choice, and end up being worthy of the same rewards as theirs, without
persecution, without fire, without blows.
171
(p.140) But attainment of martyrdom was a
different existential state of relationship from kinship with the martyrs; it was outside the
realm of family and was the highest of all Christian goals.
Turning Their Families into Martyrs
Gregory of Nazianzus wrote the following tribute to his entire family with a heavy heart.
First Caesarius was the common sorrow, then Gorgonia, afterwards beloved father, and
then not very long afterwards mother.
172
The Cappadocians were set apart from others not
only because of their nobility, wealth, and achievements in the Church but also because of
their admirable, particular attention to the bonds of family relationships. Their attentiveness
did not weaken as members of their families died. Basil wrote, Now for my sins I have lost
my mother, the only comfort I had in my life.
173
In the process of memorializing their
relatives, their familial devotion in combination with their claims to kinship with the martyrs
transformed their relatives into martyrs, crystallizing their identities in the ranks of the saints
extraordinarily soon after death and then forever.
Through astounding funeral panegyrics, the Cappadocians successfully turned their
deceased relatives into martyrs wherein they assimilated the events of their lives to the trials
of the martyrs. Combined with all of the other strategies that assured their own prestige in
terms of the martyr cults, the panegyrics first secured their relatives eternal life with the
martyrs. And best of all, such efforts secured the future of their lineage by making their
relatives into saints within a few years of their deaths. What is quite remarkable, formally
speaking, is that we are witnessing an exceptional confluence of rhetorical genres in the
Cappadocians writings for their relatives and the martyrs. Is it an accident, then, that ideas
traditionally expressed in separate genres also merge and blur?
By the time they had completed their secondary education, the Cappadocians had mastered
the rules of rhetorical composition, knowing how and when to write a variety of orations,
depending on the occasion and venue. They were adept at delivering panegyrics praising
people on great occasions, such as birthdays, church festivals, weddings, and funerals. All of
these panegyrics fell under the category of epideictic speeches. A funeral encomium, the
epitaphios logos, like any other panegyric, was constructed according to strict rules of
rhetoric set out handbooks: a prologue, description of country, the nobility of the (p.141)
family, circumstances of birth, education, the extraordinary characteristics of the individual,
heroic deeds, and comparisons with other great people, and finally an epilogue.
174
Unlike funeral encomia, general panegyrics were composed for many sorts of festive
celebrations and could be repeated yearly at the commemoration. As we have seen, the
Cappadocians harnessed the ubiquitous enthusiasm for the cult of the martyrs by composing
beautiful panegyrics for them for the yearly festivals. They based these panegyrics precisely
on the rules of classical rhetoric. Along with encouraging the burgeoning growth of devotion
to the martyrs, their panegyrics contributed substantially to a new genre of literature
hagiobiographyblending in infinite varieties aspects of traditional biography, funeral
Page 31 of 55
oration, and the particular Christian topos of the holy person, the hagios.
175
It is no surprise
that they bring Christian virtues and topoi to the fore in their new versions of the age-old
genre of funeral panegyric. In fact, though there were handbooks and rules for funeral
oratory based on Menander, breaking the rules is the rule throughout the tradition, and
does not start with the Christian orators.
176
When their own close friends and relatives died, the Cappadocians commemorated them as
remarkable Christians in various epigrams, funeral orations, and hagiobiographies, with the
same spirit of praise they used for the martyrs.
177
It is quite remarkable that, though most
hagiobiographies of church fathers as they would come down to us later, whether in the
form of a vita, an enkomion, or a funeral oration, [were] rarely based on the hagiographers
personal experience or investigation, those of the Cappadocians actually were.
178
While, on
the one hand, they do not lack the hagiographical ingredients of attractive story-telling, so
definitive for the genre, on the other hand, the most sensational elements of story-telling, so
common in hagiography and novels, such as appearances of demons, miracles of all sorts,
prophesies, and divine communication through dreams, are either mitigated or excluded.
179
Most tellingly, the literary tropes of sexual allurement, sexual pursuit, sexual violence, sexual
rebuff, and horrific violence of all sorts with the (p.142) attendant voyeurism are missing in
nearly all hagiobiographies of a church father or mother. Both the genre and the content of
the orations conveyed the unambiguous message that these pious friends and relatives were
not only like the martyrs, they also accomplished similar feats and should be revered as such.
Nor were the Cappadocians unique in this respect. It is possible to talk, for the fourth
century, of a similar drift towards a martyrization of the deceased.
180
It is worth noting that Delehaye, the great scholar and pioneer of hagiographical studies,
equivocated on this point, finding the subject uncomfortable. After asserting that the
Cappadocians lauded their relatives in the same spirit they used for the martyrs, he then
qualifies the statement, albeit at a rank inferior to the martyrs.
181
Delehaye appears closer
to the truth when he later comments that close readings of the panegyrics reveal the nearly
indetectable [sic] enlargement in the evolution of the cult of the saints, where one see the
honors, at first reserved for the martyrs, now equally shared with bishops, ascetics, and
virgins, who also happened to be their parents, brothers, sisters, and friends.
182
Caesarius Eulogized
Nazianzens younger brother Caesarius died in 369, unfortunately young and before anyone
else in his family. Caesarius was unabashedly a cosmopolite, secular, and ambitious for a
career first in Constantinople and then in Bithynia, so his life does not look at first glance as if it
could conform to the model of the martyrs. Though his life was by no means scandalous, it
could only be set up as an example with difficulty.
183
Yet Gregory cleverly wove martyr
themes into his eulogy for his brother at two crucial parts of the panegyric.
The rules of the genre made the first instance easy: Caesarius came from a saintly family.
Gregory spared no praise for the extraordinary piety of his father and mother. His favorite
comparison for their father was to Aaron or Moses. He then moved to Nonna, whose piety
was particularly exemplary. As a couple, Gregory and Nonna love Christ more than they do
their children. When the mourning period for Caesarius began, Nonna decided to wear
bright clothes (p.143) suitable for a festival, rather than somber robes of sorrow. She
Page 32 of 55
overcame her tears with philosophy. Instead of wailing, she softly sang psalms. Both Nonna
and Elder Gregory provided ascetic models for their sons eulogy.
In the second instance, Nazianzen used the section of the oration on heroic deeds to equate
Caesarius virtues with those of the martyrs. When he first moved to Constantinople,
Caesarius was much sought after in social circles. Yet he was able to stave off all the potential
venues that could corrupt his soul for among his many claims to honor, he cared most for
being, and being known, to be a Christian; and compared with this, all other things were to
him but trifling toys.
184
Caesarius showed superhuman strength in his ability to withstand
the temptations of the sumptuous life at the imperial court. In fact, self-control practiced daily
amid such a life was much more difficult than fleeing from it to a monastery.
The real test came when Julian became emperor. Singling out the Christians at court, Julian
bribed some, others he flattered, and the most obstinate he threatened. When he set his
sights on Caesarius, the young doctor rose to Julians challenge. Gregory scoffed at Julians
useless attempt to sway his brother, the son of parents like ours!
Gregory used the familiar language of the martyrs arena quite boldly to describe Caesarius
ordeal. Christ presided as judge over the contest, arming Caesarius, the athlete, with his
own sufferings.
185
Caesarius, having torn to shreds the arguments of the opponent, in a
loud, clear voice declared that he was and remained a Christian. Wily Julian still retained him,
because he enjoyed Caesarius company so much; and while showing courage and self-denial
for his Christian faith, Caesarius left his splendid position at court. Such was the godliness of
Caesarius.
186
The eulogy was performed as part of the liturgical act of Caesarius funeral, and it explicitly
refers to the rituals of a martyrs panegyris: procession, psalm singing, and the oration.
Gregory often breaks into prayers to God to accept Caesarius soul into heaven, while
referring to his oration as an offering. Moreover, just as for a martyrs panegyris, he states
specifically that his brothers memory will be celebrated each year. Part of our gift is now
complete, the remainder we will now pay by offering (those of us who still survive) every
year our honors and memorials.
187
Noticeably lacking, however, are any miracles
performed by Caesarius, any powers of intercession he might have, or any mention of his
burial close to other saints. The last omission is less (p.144) significant, since we know from
other evidence their family tomb was next to some martyrs.
188
Gorgonia Memorialized
Bitter circumstances forced Gregorys parents to bury two of their children. Not long after
Caesarius death, the oldest child of the family, Gorgonia, died. As he had done for Caesarius,
Gregory delivered a moving funeral panegyric, an epitaphios logos for his sister, not only, as
he says, because she was his relation but also because her life was truly worthy of
commendation.
189
Again, Gregory was confronted with eulogizing a quotidian, secular life
that on the surface was the polar opposite from either the ideal of the philosophic life of
asceticism or the stark reality of martyrdom. Gorgonia was a rich married woman, mother of
three daughters, matron over a large household, and supervisor of many servants and
slaves. Yet despite her worldly status, Gregorys panegyric is so successful that every
listener would know that Gorgonia had all the virtues of a martyr: the best Christian ancestry,
Page 33 of 55
a life of charity and self-denial for Christ, and most of all, performance of a miracle. In fact,
adding to this challenge, Gregorys funeral panegyric for his sister is the earliest hagiographic
text in praise of a Christian woman.
190
Gregory spends a short time likening his parents to the great biblical ancestors Abraham and
Sarah, bluntly concluding, From them Gorgonia derived both her existence and her
reputation.
191
What was exceptional in Gorgonias life, however, was how she managed to
conduct it. Her married life was modeled on ascetic piety, the first step in the voluntary life of
the martyrs. Gorgonia was able to achieve a harmonious balance between the responsibilities
of marriage and her personal goals of self-abnegation, fasting, daily prayer, ultimate
discretion, and personal ascetic rigor. He wrote, She lived and died amid the word of piety.
Gorgonias modesty, prudence, discretion, and patience drew people to her. She was known
for her generous offerings to churches, poor neighbors, and needy relatives, making her
habits of life roughly parallel to the daily routine of a monastery.
Gregory declared that Gorgonias true home was Jerusalem, combining the best of the
married and the unmarried state.
192
Significantly, she dedicated (p.145) to God not her
single soul, but the whole household, and making wedlock illustrious through her own
acceptability in wedlock.
193
Gorgonia kept long fasts, prayed in tearful vigils, chanted the
psalms, and was able to receive prophecies from God. In sum, she perfected all the
requirements of the ascetic life quite discreetly while keeping up with all the work required of
a wealthy matron. Gorgonias relentless vigilance sanctified everyday married life.
194
Like a martyr, Gorgonia effected two miraculous cures through her exemplary faith.
195
This
alone would spread her reputation as a saint among the laity. When she suffered broken
bones and internal bruises after a carriage accident, she refused to see a doctor. Rather, as
a shock to the outside community, Gorgonias injuries were completely healed by God
through her steadfast prayers and resolute trust. Another time she contracted a horrible
disease that wasted away her body in fever, comas, and paralysis. Physicians were consulted
this time on the case, and her parents prayed and supplicated God, yet the disease persisted.
Despairing of all other aid, Gorgonia mustered enough strength to get herself to church
one night without anyones knowing. There she spent an entire night prostrate in prayer,
resolved not to leave until she was cured. Gregory called it an act of pious and splendid
effrontery. She left the church healed.
Gorgonia was baptized late in life, before her final illness. While all her family, including her
aged parents, gathered round her at her deathbed, Gorgonia spoke about the things of
heaven, and the day of her death proceeded like a solemn festival, like a martyr panegyris.
As she lay dying, she whispered Psalm 4. Nonna attended her at her deathbed, with anguish
and affection. The local bishop was also there. Yet there was no keening in lamentation;
rather, there was solemn silence, as if her death had been a religious ceremony. Gregory
hints that Gorgonia may respond to future petitions, adding: And if you take any account of
our affairs, and holy souls receive from God this privilege, accept these words of mine, in
place of, and in preference to many panegyrics.
196
He adds almost ironically that he was left
to give the funeral orations for both his siblings, If anyone will, after you, pay me the like
honor, I cannot say.
197
Whatever his original intent, the statement links himself with his
martyr siblings.
Page 34 of 55
Gorgonia was buried in Lyconia with her husbands family. Whether the crypt was close to
martyr relics is uncertain, but in this epigram for his sister (p.146) Gregory assures us she
is with the martyrs: There is nothing of Gorgonia remaining on the earth, only bones.
Everything was placed above, O you Martyrs victorious.
198
Nonna and Elder Gregory, Memorialized
Nazianzens moving eulogy to his father, who died at a century in age, praises both of his
parents.
199
According to their son, Nonna and Gregory consciously styled their lives in
imitation of the pious obedience of the biblical saints, especially Abraham and Sarah. In
comparison with the panegyrics to his siblings, the funeral encomium for his father contains
much more biographical information and has much less in common with the form of a martyr
panegyric. Even though his parents ascetic habits would qualify them as aspiring martyrs,
very little in the panegyric invites the hearers to view his parents as martyrs.
200
There are
no petitions to his deceased father to grant something to the living. Even details of the funeral
are missing, so it is not comparable to a martyr panegyris. Indeed, if Gregory had written
only this funeral oration, we would conclude that he had no desire to memorialize his
parents transformation into martyrs. But this is not the case.
Gregory saved the linkage to the martyrs for the epigrams. Gregory composed over fifty
epigrams to his mother (although he wrote no funeral panegyric for her) and over a dozen to
his father. In some way, his epigrams were the speedy way to ensure that Christian nobility
would make its mark visibly and permanently in society.
201
Various epigrams convey
weariness, sorrow, bitterness, or longing; but all of them convey deepest, sincerest love.
Short, crisp, and immediate, the epigrams clearly liken his parents to the martyrs, especially
since they draw special attention to the fact that the family crypt was fortunately situated
right next to the local martyr shrine.
202
Caesarius and Nonna were buried in one grave, and
the two priests, Elder Gregory, and eventually his son Gregory, in another.
203
In countless variations of the same theme, Gregory savors the moment of Nonnas death.
She prayed ceaselessly at the altar, never leaving the church until she died there. Nonnas
unwavering faith had given her power to defeat (p.147) the devil, she had performed
miracles, now in death she intercedes for others.
204
Nonnas winged soul left for the
heavens, we set her body outside the shrine to the martyrs. May you martyrs accept the
great sacrifice, the one who is following your very own blood with the much laboring flesh,
she silenced the great power of the destroyer of souls through long-lived labors.
205
She
looks like a divine person as well, .
206
In another epigram, Gregory petitions the
martyrs on behalf of his mother, who now is one of them, Martyrs, be gracious, in
distresses beloved Nonna is not inferior to you, by the hidden and yet public war.
207
Although it is succinct, this epigram shows undoubtedly that he also considered his father a
martyr: Save me now father, by thy prayers of might, and you mother, who died
praying.
208
Basil Memorialized
Gregory of Nazianzus Panegyric on St. Basil is a stunning tribute to his great friends life,
including his accomplishments in ascetic virtue and his illustrious episcopal career. In
describing the nobility of his lineage, Nazianzen immediately places Basil in the context of the
martyrs. Describing the ferocity of the persecution under Maxminus, he describes Basils
Page 35 of 55
grandparents: So prepared and determined were they to bear readily all those things on
account of which Christ crowns those who have imitated His struggle on our behalf.
209
Because his endurance during trials rivaled the Maccabees, he won their glory.
210
By
ranking Basil with the great patriarchs of Scripture, he does not hesitate to confer on his hero
the title of saint.
211
Nazianzen delivered this funeral panegyric as a memorial two years after Basils death in 381.
Yet, as the climax of the oration, he purposely re-created the last moments of his friends
death and the funeral, and he does so to spectacular effect. By dramatizing the rituals of the
funeral two years past, he made the occasion even more like a martyrs panegyris, since
everyone present would have been quite familiar with the rituals performed yearly at many a
martyrs shrine. This eloquent composition of hagiography is one of Gregorys most poetic
works.
212
Of Basils death he writes, The time for his crown was (p.148) approaching.
There was a crush of people when the funeral procession began. Everyone clamored to
touch the bier, to be in its holy shadow, or to touch his holy remains, for what could be
more holy or pure than that body?
213
Psalms sung in the procession gave way to unruly
lamentations and outbursts of emotion. Even worse, violence erupted, and people were
killed, ending up as funeral victims! Basils body was then placed in an episcopal tomb in
Caesarea, the martyr to the martyrs. Gregory exclaims: And now he is in heaven, offering
sacrifices for us and praying for the people.
214
Finally Gregory ends the moving panegyric
for his friend, with the staunch belief that Basil can effect miracles for people and offer
intercessions for those who call upon him. Yet may you gaze upon us from above, you
divine and sacred person, either stay by thy entreaties our thorn in the flesh or prevail
upon us to bear it boldly, and guide all our life toward that which is most for our profit.
215
Gregorys firm belief in his friends saintly power is echoed later in this epigram: Continue I
implore you, to stand offering up thy gifts for the world.
216
Though Gregory of Nyssa also memorialized his brother Basil with a funeral panegyric,
surprisingly that is not the place where he connects Basil to the martyrs. Interestingly
enough, he linked Basil and the martyrs in his second panegyric for the Forty Martyrs
delivered in Caesarea, March 379, only two months after Basils death. In a moment of
fraternal admiration, he praises his virtuous brother for his intrepid defense of the faith, his
good works, and his service to the saints as a saint.
217
Gregorys praise of his brother
here is the most exuberant and personal of all his statements about Basil, and it gets closest
to equating him to a martyr. Basils grieving flock would have been able to recognize their
bishop in these praises, but that would be less the case a few years later in Nyssens funeral
panegyric.
Nyssen had lost both Basil and Macrina within a year of each other. Unable to attend Basils
funeral, Nyssen memorialized his great brother in 381, several years after his death. Basil
was not buried in the family tomb in Ibora, but in Caesarea, so Nyssen gave the address in
Caesarea on January 1, right after the celebrations of Christmas, St. Stephens, and the feast
of Holy Apostles.
218
These saints provided the perfect segue into the particular themes of
Nyssens (p.149) funeral oration. The contrast between Nazianzens panegyric to Basil and
Nyssens is astonishing. The most obvious difference is that Nyssens panegyric gives a
remote, distant, and impersonal depiction of Basil as both a brother and a human being.
Nyssen managed to avoid saying everything about his brother that Nazianzan had narrated
Page 36 of 55
so eloquently and meticulously.
219
Nyssens Panegyric on St. Basil places him in the pages of the Bible with qualities so vaunted
that they are far from Nyssen and the family.
220
His rhetoric is also so stylized that their
parents are not worth mentioning, since Basils race is familiarity with God and virtue.
221
He ranks Basil almost endlessly with Paul, John, Stephen, Elijah, Samuel, and Moses, who
were indeed imitable saints, but they were at the same time remote in location and time. They
were not nearly so connected to the community as were the local martyrs, familiar to them in
place, inherited lore, recent memory, and passionate devotion. Rather, Nyssen frames Basils
feats in universal terms, first for the world stage and then in biblical history.
222
But he does
not draw Basil near to the people through petitions or calls for intercession.
Gregory of Nyssa comes closest to likening Basil to the martyrs when he says he was a
brave soldier of Christ, an oblique quotation of 2 Timothy 2:3.
223
He also claims for Basil
unity with the martyrs in death, since a persons misfortune cannot always imitate the
martyrs struggles on behalf of the truth.
224
His question, Is the celebration inferior in
comparison with the rest of the saints festivals? seems gratuitous, since he does not pursue
any context of a panegyris, so familiar and popular with the audience.
Finally, Basil is not enshrined next to the tomb of the martyrs. Dramatically, Nyssen compares
Basils tomb with the lost grave of Moses, since both of them departed life and did not leave
behind a memorial of his bodily existence.
225
This may have worked rhetorically, but it is still
quite odd since Basil was buried in Caesarea along with all the other bishops and priests of
the city, and Nyssen was probably standing right in front of the crypt when he delivered this
oration.
226
(p.150) In his brothers panegyric, Basil belonged to the clergy, high priest with priests,
not with the martyrs. He had lost ties both to the family and to the local community. Since the
martyrs were ancestors to both in Nyssens worldview, it makes sense that Basil
transcended all specific localization of his origins, mitigating his relationship to the martyrs.
This stands in conspicuous contrast to Gregorys Life of Saint Macrina, where he merges his
sisters life with a vibrant theology of martyrdom, virtue, intercession, miracles, and
beneficence. Gregory memorializes Macrina as a martyr by promoting a relational quality
between her and those who venerate her. The effect would be healing and blessing on her
believers and eternal memory for his sister. There was a true interchange. All of that is
conspicuously missing in Nyssens Panegyric on St. Basil.
Macrina Memorialized
Gregory of Nyssas Life of Saint Macrina transforms the narration of Macrinas life into the
vita of a saint through the process of hagiographical composition.
227
Because it appears to
be in the form of a letter, the Life of Saint Macrina is a heartfelt meditation on his sisters life
as a martyr, not a panegyric for her memorial celebration. It is a masterful work, the best
example of hagiobiography, as Gregory creatively combines fundamental elements of
panegyric and biography. The process of writing the Life of Saint Macrina provided a worthy
memorial and at the same time helped Nyssen to overcome his overriding grief at the loss of
his sister.
228
As absent as Gregorys emotions were in his panegyric to Basil, thus are they
palpably present in the Life of Saint Macrina. Gregory wrote it a year or so after her death in
Page 37 of 55
380.
The text divides neatly into two parts. The first half is a biography of Macrina within the
context of their entire family; in fact, most of the history of all the family members is written
here. This half corresponds to the descriptions of ancestry, education, and deeds in a martyr
panegyric. The second half recounts Gregorys visit with Macrina, the last days of her life,
and her moving funeral. Almost point for point, this half draws an obvious correspondence
between a martyrs death and Macrinas death, and then between the rituals of a panegyris
and Macrinas funeral.
Since the rich biographical details of Macrinas life were analyzed before, it is necessary here
only to point out how Gregory constantly stresses Macrinas (p.151) saintliness within the
context of her family. For Gregory, Macrinas achievements primarily take their meaning
within the bounds of their family, as a cohesive unit, in which all members participate in
each others glory.
229
Again, the content of biography and panegyric meld in the discussion of
Macrinas noble ancestry. But at this point Gregory introduces an innovation: a heavenly
person intervenes during Emmelias labor and addresses the child as Thecla. The saint
would direct Macrinas life, and Emmelia was complicit enough in this divine plan that all the
family eventually knew that Thecla was Macrinas secret name.
Every family member in the Life plays a supporting role in Macrinas lifelong pursuit of
saintliness. Each encounter with a parent or brother was an occasion for Gregory to
emphasize Macrinas unflinching resolve for the ascetic life and her spiritual sagacity. Her
strong-willed, though well-meaning, father is no match for Macrina when, on the early death
of her betrothed, she convinces him that she will remain forever a virgin.
230
In stages she
leads her mother to the ascetic life in a process that took several years.
231
Macrina succeeds
in taking Basil in hand despite his conceited attitude about his rhetorical skills and swiftly
wins him over to the ideal of philosophy.
232
When Naucratius death plunged the entire
family into uncontrollable grief, Macrina bravely rose above nature and emerged as the
emotional and spiritual leader of the household. She ascended above her nature, but
clearly not above kinship.
What is more to the point, her qualities of leadership were completely focused on the ascetic
life. As Gregory tells it, Macrinas life was a process of maturing into higher levels of
renunciation. Her rigorous asceticism allowed her participation in the ranks of the
martyrs.
233
As Gregory lays out her life, the reader sees her progress of conforming
progressively and steadily to the martyrs. From birth to death, Gregory charts her life as a
spiritual ascent to martyrdom through ascetic discipline.
By these devices Gregory frames Macrinas life in such a way that from the time of her birth
she was a virgin martyr and is set apart from her family in her ascetic initiative,
accomplishments, and teaching ability. The formulaic narrative of the biography of a noble
Christian Cappadocian woman interfaces seamlessly with the familiar story of an exceptional
virgin martyr. It starts at Macrinas birth with the intervention of St. Thecla, who has a more
important (p.152) role in shaping her life than her noble, Christian parents. Each successive
point in Macrinas life goes beyond everyday human meaning since she participates like an
athlete in the ascetic contests, earning her a place in the ranks of the martyrs.
Page 38 of 55
The second half of the Life turns to Macrinas last days. Gregory begins the story of her
death with his dream that perfectly parallels the events that had surrounded her birth. His
dream echoes Emmelias heavenly vision, thrice heralding Theclas role in her daughters life.
When Gregory was only a days journey away from Annesi, he dreamt three times that he
was holding the relics of martyrs whose bright light blinded him.
234
The vision perplexed him.
On arrival, he found that Macrina was very sick and that his brother Peter had gone out to
meet him. After conversing with Macrina for nearly a whole day, reminiscing about their
family and sobbing over Basils death, Gregory realized what the dream had meant. His
sister Macrina was the holy martyr. What I had seen before me was truly the remains of a
holy martyr, one who had been dead to sin, but illumined by the indwelling grace of the Holy
Spirit.
235
Gregory was despondent about Macrinas approaching death, but Macrina urged
him to cheer up. She was already looking toward the prize of victory, the martyrs crown.
236
Macrina longed for death, just as the martyrs did.
At the end of the second day, Macrina uttered her last prayer to God. Just as in the
recounting of a martyrs ordeal, Macrinas prayer mirrors the confession of the martyr, the
trials she endures because of her faith, and her hope for eternal life. The first eight lines are a
patchwork of Psalms and other biblical quotes combined with the prayers of vespers. They
express Macrinas belief in the God who created all humanity, who crushed the devil who had
captured a disobedient humanity in the realm of death, and who ultimately opened the gates
of hell to eternal life of the resurrection. She affirms her belief that the cosmic battle has been
won through the cross and resurrection of Christ. Her confession in all these ways is a true
martyrs confession.
237
The second part of her prayer reflects on the consequences of her faith. In a martyrs story,
after the confession, the oppressors torture the Christian for her faith, and she dies a painful
death. Similarly, in Macrinas prayer she recounts how she was dedicated to God from birth
and how she was crucified (p.153) with God from that moment and then throughout all her
life: for I have nailed my flesh out of reverence for you and have feared your
judgments.
238
Her ascetic life of unrelenting self-abnegation brought her the martyrs
suffering each day of her life on earth. Just as some martyrs were scourged or flayed,
Macrina implores God that in the stripping off of my body I may be found without stain or
blemish in the beauty of my soul.
239
And like the Forty Martyrs who were burned (and
near whom she would soon be buried), the last line of her prayer refers to her soul rising to
the Lord as an incense offering before your face.
240
She ends her prayer and her life with
the sign of the cross.
After two of Macrinas fellow virgins readied her body for burial, they gave Gregory her
ring. It was engraved with a cross and contained a sliver of the true cross within.
241
Throughout Macrinas life the ring and its contents had served as a relic, yet it
simultaneously transcended the boundaries of a relics meaning: she had literally carried the
cross all her life. For Gregory the ring would serve forever as a relic of his beloved
martyred sister.
Macrinas vigil and funeral had all the elements of a panegyris for the martyrs, the antiphonal
chanting of psalms, shared responses, and the procession with candles.
242
The lamentations
took on the overtones of a martyrs festival. We spent the whole night singing hymns around
Page 39 of 55
her body, just as they do in celebrating the death of martyrs.
243
Crowds of people from
neighboring villages joined the funeral procession to the shrine of the Forty Martyrs a few
miles away at Ibora. Along with deacons, priests, and three bishops, pious laity squeezed into
the martyrium, clamoring to touch Macrinas bier, since nobody could see enough of that
holy spectacle.
244
Before placing Macrinas body in the family tomb next to their parents remains, Gregory
could no longer contain his deep fear. He was paralyzed with panic that when they open the
tomb, he should break Gods command and see the shame of his own mother and father,
the naked, decayed remains of his parents. Gregory had in mind Leviticus 18:67: None of
you shall approach anyone near of kin to uncover nakedness, I am the Lord. You shall not
uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother; she is your
mother, you shall not uncover her nakedness. That Gregory understood (p.154) the
command two ways, first as sex and second literally as seeing, is obvious from his next
comment and his solution out of the predicament.
245
Consistent with his theology, he
subsumes sexual intercourse in the overriding consequence of the Fall: death.
246
His worry
at the tomb is evident: How will I be free of such condemnation if I look at the common
shame of human nature in the bodies of my parents, since they can only be decomposed and
disintegrated and changed into a hideous, repulsive formlessness?
247
Gregory found the solution (and his hermeneutic of the command in Leviticus) in the actions
of Shem and Japheth, two of Noahs sons in Genesis 9:1827. Noahs other son, Ham, saw his
naked father Noah, when he was in a drunken stupor. Not only did he not avert his gaze, he
boasted to his brothers about it afterward. Shem and Japheth, however, acted more
honorably. They walked backward into Noahs presence and, without looking at him, covered
him up with a cloth. With some relief, Gregory imitated them and made sure that a cloth was
laid over his parents remains before they became visible.
As they laid Macrinas body in the tomb next to her mother, Gregorys grief was palpable.
Adjacent to the tomb was the martyrium of the Forty Martyrs, literally where heaven and
earth merged in Gregorys world, so vividly crowded with family, the saints, and his
memories. His mother had built that very shrine where the Forty Martyrs had clubbed him,
an event affecting him so much that he was eventually baptized; where his familys remains
were; and where all his beloved kin would rise up early with the martyrs at the final
resurrection.
248
Along with her family, Macrina was now buried next to the Forty Martyrs.
Kissing the dust at her grave, like greeting the martyr at the panegyris, Nyssen gave his
sister veneration as a saint, the only proper farewell.
Inconsolable when he left, Gregory met a tearful soldier, who like him was also mourning
Macrinas death. The soldier testified to Macrinas innumerable miracles, which were the
ultimate proof of the powers of the holy martyrs and their worthiness of veneration.
249
Gregorys magnificent verbal memorial to his (p.155) sister goes far beyond his stated
justification: a life of this quality should not be forgotten for the future, and that she who had
raised herself through philosophy to the highest limit of human virtue should not pass along
this way veiled and in silence.
250
Rather, much more simply, with the Life of Saint Macrina,
Gregory does in his rhetoric what a martyrs festival accomplishes in ritual, to keep the
martyrs memory alive.
251
Page 40 of 55
Conclusion
Clearly, kinship with the martyrs functioned as the heart of Christian piety for the
Cappadocians on a variety of levels. We can now assess the Cappadocians achievements from
different vantage points. In most ways, it appears that the Cappadocian Fathers straddled
two very different worldsthe ascetic life and the domestic lifewith supreme equipoise.
And such adroitness allowed them to create a rich, resonant system of relationships with the
martyrs that sustained all Christians like a family. In fact, they viewed the importance of
family, household organization, and obligations of kinship as the model of Christian social
organization, including monasticism. Though they all embraced the celibate life, the
Cappadocians never left their natal families, even though they enjoined members of
coenobitic monasteries to do so. The evidence is suffused with examples of their
extraordinary devotion to their family members throughout their lives. In their dual roles as
celibate and family men, they used martyr piety to forge new ways to envision relationships
with the martyrs and to promote their own family members.
252
A significant reason the Cappadocians were so successful is that veneration of the martyrs
was the most pervasive and most popular liturgical activity. A vibrant sacramental life for the
laity was not yet the norm in fourth-century Christianity. Most people delayed baptism until
late in life, so very few people received the Holy Eucharist at liturgies. But every pious
catechumen could participate in panegyreis for martyrs, which occurred monthly, at the
minimum.
The Cappadocians capitalized on this situation by preaching that every Christian could
become friends of the martyrs, and even kin with the martyrs, through their piety and moral
behavior. Kinship with the martyrs constituted an adoptive, spiritual kinship, open to
monastics and laity alike. Of course, all Christians were urged to actually become martyrs
through heroic ascetic lives (p.156) and moral action. But most people could never achieve
such heights; and were they to do so, they would lose the reciprocal, relational network that
supported them in their daily lives by being kin with the martyrs.
Basil and Gregory of Nyssa attached so much importance to kinship with the martyrs that
they claimed three most famous saints as familial relatives. Their motives are all the more
obvious when we remember that their own grandfather was martyred in the last
persecution. Yet they do not write about him. Sts. Gregory Thaumaturgus, Thecla, and the
Forty Martyrs intervened in their lives in such a way that they appear paradoxically to be
both consanguineous and spiritual ancestors. As a result, the prestige of their own family
went well beyond all social parameters, reaching the awesome realm of the saints.
Gregory of Nazianzus joins Nyssen in the ultimate means for establishing kinship with the
martyrs. Through funeral panegyrics, epigrams, and the famous Life of Saint Macrina, they
both inscribe their recently deceased family members into the ranks of the martyrs. Not only
did this ensure their kinship with martyrs but also soon afterward their family members
were venerated as saints. Again we see family concerns, preeminent for the Cappadocians,
merge with the promotion of martyr piety. Through kinship with the martyrs, the
Cappadocians succeed in bypassing the need for procreation. Their familys honor is forever,
eternal. Finally, the Cappadocians envisioned a system that while appropriating and expanding
on popular martyr piety, put their own elite piety on a higher plane, thereby perpetuating the
Page 41 of 55
distinction between their own families and the general populace. With siblings and parents
ensconced with the martyrs, yet still identifiable in their familial roles, we shall now turn to an
examination of the fascinating role gender played in their ascent to martyrdom and in their
unceasing promotion of martyr piety.
Notes:
(1.) Raymond Van Dam, Families and Friends in Late Roman Cappadocia (Philadelphia:
University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003), 122; and see Andrew Jacobs, A Family Affair:
Marriage, Class, and Ethics in the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles, JECS 7 (1999): 125.
Jacobs points out that Christian renunciation of marriage in late antiquity has repercussions
along social status lines.
(2.) Elizabeth Castelli, Martyrdom and Memory: Early Christian Culture Making (New York:
Columbia University Press, 2004), 4.
(3.) Ibid., 70.
(4.) John Davis, People of the Mediterranean (London: Routledge, Kegan, and Paul, 1977),
219.
(5.) Bernhard Jussen, Spiritual Kinship as Social Practice, trans. Pamela Selwyn (Newark:
University of Delaware Press, 2000), 21.
(6.) Ibid.
(7.) Adoption was indeed another legal way of establishing kinship in the fourth century, but it
does not pertain to the Cappadocians families.
(8.) Andrew T. Crislip, From Monastery to Hospital, Christian Monasticism & the
Transformation of Health Care in Late Antiquity (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press,
2005), 139.
(9.) Marilyn Dunn, The Emergence of Monasticism, from the Desert Fathers to the Early
Middle Ages (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2000), 3435.
(10.) Basil of Caesarea, An Ascetical Discourse I, in Saint Basil, Ascetical Works, FOTC, vol.
9, trans. Sister M. Monica Wagner, C. S. C. (Washington, DC: Catholic University Press,
1962), 207, 210. Basil establishes separate monasteries for women and for men.
(11.) Crislip, 56.
(12.) Basil of Caesarea, The Long Rules, 8, in St. Basil, Ascetical Works, FOTC, vol. 9, trans.
Sister M. Monica Wagner, C. S. C. (Washington, DC: Catholic University Press, 1962), 253.
(13.) Ibid.
(14.) Basil, Ascetical Discourse I, Wagner, 208.
(15.) Basil, Long Rules, 32, Wagner, 295296.
Page 42 of 55
(16.) Rebecca Krawiec, From the Womb of the Church: Monastic Families, JECS 11
(2003): 285.
(17.) Crislip, 59.
(18.) Basil, Long Rules, 8, Wagner, 253.
(19.) Ibid., Long Rules, 9, Wagner, 257.
(20.) Paul J. Fedwick, The Church and the Charisma of Leadership in Basil of Caesarea
(Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1979), 15.
(21.) Basil of Caesarea, Shorter Rules, 187, in The Ascetic Works of St. Basil, trans. W. K. L.
Clarke (London: SPCK, 1925), 199.
(22.) Kate Cooper, Approaching the Holy Household, JECS 15 (2007): 133.
(23.) Basil, Long Rules, 8, Wagner, 254; 18 and 19, 273277; 22 and 23, 281285; 38 and 39,
311313; 42 and 43, 317320; 55, 330335; Ascetic Discourse I, Wagner, 211.
(24.) Crislip, 56.
(25.) Basil, Long Rules, Wagner, 313314.
(26.) John Meyendorff, Christian Marriage in Byzantium: The Canonical and Liturgical
Tradition, DOP 44 (1990): 99107.
(27.) Ibid., 104.
(28.) Basil of Caesarea, Letter 188, Canonica Prima, Canon IV, 225; Canonica Secunda,
Canons XXI, XLI, L, NPNF, vol. 8, 238, 239, 240; Cononica Tertia, Canon LXXX, 258. There
are three letters on the canons, all addressed to Amphilochius of Iconium, Letters 188, 199,
217, constituting eighty-four rules and opinions on practical matters of administration of the
Christian community. It is not my intention in my book to discuss the Cappadocians views on
the difference between the virgin/celibate life and the married life. That is a very different
topic. It is important to note, however, that Gregory of Nyssa said he was not depreciating
marriage as an institution when he wrote On Virginity. But our view of marriage is this; that,
while the pursuit of heavenly things should be a mans first care, yet if he can use the
advantages of marriage with sobriety and moderation, he need not despise this way of
serving the state. Nyssen mentions nothing anywhere about the marriage service or the
incorporation of marriage into the Church.
(29.) Ibid., Letter 199; Canonica Secunda, Canon XLII, 329.
(30.) Meyendorff, 105. These church blessings at weddings turned into church weddings in
741 by the Ecloga. This became an alternate form of concluding a legal marriage. In the reign
of Leo VI (886912), it was required by law that marriage be sanctioned by the witness of
the sacred blessing. The Church from then on had all rights over marriage and divorce.
(31.) Gregory of Nazianzus, Letter 231, in Saint Grgoire de Nazianze, Lettres, vol. 2, ed.
Page 43 of 55
and trans. Paul Gallay (Paris: Socit ddition les belles lettres, 1967), 122123.
(32.) Gregory of Nazianzus, Carmina quae spectant ad alios, Praises for Olympias Wedding,
PG 37.15421550 (Poem 6). For the discussion of Vitalianus and his feud with his sons
Phocas and Peter, whom he banned from attending the wedding of their sister, see Kristoffel
Demoen, Gifts of Friendship that Will Remain Forever, JbOB 47 (1997): 49. See also
Gregory of Nazianzus, Letter Gallay, vol. 2, 163.
(33.) Gregory of Nazianzus, Letter 193, Gallay, vol. 2, 84.
(34.) Ibid .
(36.) Korbinian Ritzer, Le mariage dans les glises chrtiennes du I
er
au X
e
sicle (Paris:
ditions du Cerf, 1970), 136. The priest or bishop crowned the couple by end of the sixth
century. The earliest artistic depictions of Christian marriage are from the fifth century. The
most famous is a solidus commemorating the marriage of Empress Pulcheria and Emperor
Marcian. It is a blend of Roman and Christian: their right hands are joined, Christ is the
celebrant, and his arms are around the couple. Christ has replaced the role of Concordia in
the depiction. See Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991),
vol. 2, 1307.
(37.) Gregory of Nazianzus, Letter 232, Gallay, vol. 2, 123. See Jn 2:111, where Jesus and
his mother are at the wedding at Cana and he turns water into wine.
(38.) Gregory of Nazianzus, Oration on Holy Baptism, NPNF, vol. 7, 370.
(39.) Ibid.
(40.) Ibid.
(41.) Ibid., 364.
(42.) Gregory of Nyssa, De iis qui baptismum different, PG 46.419.
(43.) Basil of Caesarea, Homilia exhortatoria ad sanctum baptisma, PG 31.432.
(44.) Joseph H. Lynch, Godparents and Kinship in Early Medieval Europe (Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press, 1986), 5455, 97. John Chrysostom is the earliest of the Greek
Fathers to talk about sponsors; see his Second Catechetical Sermon, 1516, in Baptismal
Instructions by Saint John Chrysostom, ACW, vol. 31, trans. Paul William Harkins. (Mahwah,
NJ: Paulist Press, 1963) 4849. See also Egerias Travels, trans. John Wilkinson (London:
SPCK, 1973), 2790; Apostolic Tradition, 1619, trans. Burton Scott Easton (Hamden, CT:
Archon Books, 1962), 4849.
(45.) Jussen, 119.
(46.) Ibid.
Page 44 of 55
(47.) Ibid., 369.
(48.) Joseph H. Lynch, Christianizing Kinship, Ritual Sponsorship in Anglo-Saxon England
(Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1998), 17.
(49.) Jean Bernardi, La prdication des Pres Cappadociens (Montpellier: Presses
Universitaires de France, 1968), 68.
(50.) Baptism, Eucharist, and Chrismation are the sacraments mentioned in the earliest
church fathers. Augustine and Dionysius the Areopagite (c. 500) were the first to discuss the
sacraments at length, with Dionysius attempting to classify them. His list included ordination,
monastic consecration, and the funeral service.
(51.) Cooper, Approaching, 140.
(52.) Davis, 172173.
(54.) Ibid.
(55.) I have based these sketches on the works of scholars cited in the footnotes. For
chronology of all the Cappadocians, I have followed Gallay, Bernardi, Rousseau, and Van Dam.
There is considerable debate concerning the dating of the births and deaths of the
Cappadocians; see especially Pierre Maraval, Retour sur quelques dates concernant Basile
de Csare et Grgoire de Nysse, RHE 99 (2004): 153157; Anna Silvas, Gregory of Nyssa:
The Letters (Leiden: Brill, 2007), 165; Brian E. Daley, Gregory of Nazianzus (London:
Routledge, 2006), 134; John McGuckin, Saint Gregory of Nazianzus. An Intellectual
Biography (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimirs Press, 2001).
(56.) Andew Jacobs, Let him Guard Pietas: Early Christian Exegesis and the Ascetic
Family, JECS 11 (2003): 268.
(57.) Van Dam, Families, 27; Basil of Caesarea, Letters 204, 207, 210, NPNF, vol. 8, 243,
245248, 249.
(58.) Van Dam says that the uncle from Caesarea is most likely a maternal uncle; see Families,
30. Rev. Blomfeld Jackson, editor of the NPNF, vol. 8, thought he was a paternal uncle.
(59.) The dates of their births are approximate.
(60.) Philip Rousseau, Basil of Caesarea: Choosing a Past, in Reading the Past in Late
Antiquity, ed. Graeme Clarke (Sydney: Australian National University Press, 1999), 39.
(61.) Opinions on the evidence about Theosebeia vary widely. Silvas thinks that Theosebeia is
a sister and she became a nun in Macrinas household. Though this is an attractive thesis,
Nazianzens Letter 197 and Epigram 164 are written long after Macrinas death. Gregory of
Nyssa, I think, would have referred to his sister Theosebeia if, in fact, she had been living at
Macrinas monastery. I agree that Theosebeia is a sister of Macrina, Basil, and Gregory, but I
Page 45 of 55
think she lived somewhere else with her husband, another man named Gregory, the priest.
See Silvas, Gregory of Nyssa, 4. Paul Gallay sets out the evidence and seems to favor the
position that she is a sister; see Paul Gallay, Saint Grgoire de Nazianze, Lettres, vol. 2, 164,
note 3. Many scholars think that Letter 197 refers to Gregory of Nyssas wife, Theosebeia,
who had recently died. I discuss the question of Gregorys marital status later on in this
chaptersee especially note 75.
(62.) Gregory of Nazianzus, Epigram 161, in The Greek Anthology, VII-VIII, LCL, vol. 68,
trans. W. R. Paton (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000), 470471.
(63.) Ibid., Epigram 164, Paton, 470471. Gregory is a common name in their circles. There
are six Gregories in just these two families.
(64.) Cooper, Approaching, 133; Susanna Elm, Virgins of God (Berkeley: University of
California, 1994), 78.
(65.) Elm, 100.
(67.) Gregory of Nazianzus, Epigrams 156, 157, 158, Paton, 466469.
(68.) Elm, 8384.
(69.) Andrew Louth, Cappadocians, in Cambridge History of Early Christian Literature,
eds. Frances Young, Louis Ayres, and Andrew Louth (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2004), 290.
(70.) Gregory of Nyssa, Letters 13, 19, in Letters, Grgoire de Nysse, SC, vol. 363, trans.
Pierre Maraval (Paris: ditions du Cerf, 1990), 198199, 248251.
(71.) Gregory of Nyssa, Encomium in xl martyres ii, PG 46.784.56785.30. This incident is also
dealt with elsewhere in several other contexts; see chapters 1 and 2.
(72.) Gregory of Nazianzus, Letter 11, Gallay, vol. 1, 1618, written sometime between 362
and 365; Basil, Letter 14, NPNF, vol. 8, 124.
(73.) Rousseau, Choosing a Past, 51; Basil remarks in Letter 210, addressed to the
Neocaesareans, that his brothers live in Pontus, NPNF, vol. 8, 249.
(74.) Rousseau, Choosing a Past, 49.
(75.) Church tradition and most scholars have held that Gregory of Nyssa was married to a
woman named Theosebeia, based on Nazianzens Letter 197 and two comments in On
Virginity. Nazianzens Letter 197, as I have discussed, addressed to Gregory of Nyssa,
consoles him on the death of a certain Theosebeia. See Jean Danilou, Le mariage de
Grgoire de Nysse et la chronologie de sa vie, REA 2 (1956): 7178; Michel R. Barnes,
The Burden of Marriage and Other Notes on Gregory of Nyssas On Virginity, SP 37
(1999): 1219. Anna Silvas gives an intriguing argument on why she thinks Gregory was
married, but not to a Theosebeia, and Silvas proposes revisions of dates of his career as a
Page 46 of 55
rhetorician. See Silvas, Gregory of Nyssa,: 4, 1525. See also the more traditional discussion
in Gregory of Nazianzus, Letters, Gallay, vol. 2, 164, note 3. Louth, too, thinks that Nyssen
was married, but he thinks that Theosebeia was his sister, with whom he lived after his
unnamed wife died; thus she was the helper, or consort (syzygos) of Gregory of Nyssa,
the priest; see Louth, Cappadocians, 298, 301, note 9. Moutsoulas holds that Theosebeia is
a sister and entered the monastic life; see Elias Moutsoulas, , ,
, (Athens: Eptalophos A.B.E.E., 1997), 20. I think that their sister
Theosebeia was married to another priest named Gregory. Moreover, I do not think there is
sufficient evidence to say that Gregory of Nyssa was married. In On Virginity 3, he claims
there is a chasm between him and the life of virginity because he has chosen the secular life;
he does not say he was married. I simply do not know if he was married. In On Virginity,
Nyssen argues that choosing a life of virginity allows one to escape the extremely painful
experience of marriage. The treatise is so rhetorically complex that it is quite difficult to distill
Nyssens personal position. He takes many sides in the treatise. I am convinced that
virginity for him is a mind-set, a phronema, having to do with virtue and self-control, not
mere physical virginity. See Morwenna Ludlows excellent discussion of virginity in Gregory
of Nyssa, Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), 190201. The
only other evidence is tenuous, cited in Gregory of Nazianzus Letter 197 and the Epigrams
161, 164, the very evidence that clearly names Theosebeia as his sister and as Emmelias
child, Gregory of Nazianzus, Letter 197, Gallay, vol. 2, 8890, Epigrams 161, 164, Paton,
467468, 470471.
(76.) The dating of Nyssens works is filled with problems and complications, and there is little
agreement. The current revisions and propositions for changing chronology of significant
events in all the Cappadocians lives are not convincing and, in my view, add more problems
than they solve. For the most part, I have followed the traditional chronology in conjunction
with Gallay, Bernardi, and Van Dam. I am convinced that Nyssen wrote On Virginity sometime
between 368 and 370, and that during his exile he wrote On the Faith, On Not Three Gods,
On the Baptism of Christ, and Against Macedonius.
(77.) Gregory of Nyssa, Life of Saint Macrina, trans. Kevin Corrigan (Toronto: Peregrina,
1989), 32.
(78.) The long relationship between Eustathius of Sebasteia and Basil is famous for its
ramifications for the Trinitarian controversy, and is amply covered by many scholars. See
Raymond Van Dam, Families and Friends in Late Roman Cappadocia (Philadelphia:
University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003), 2426; and Rousseau, Basil of Caesarea, 1925,
7580. Elms position that Basil honored his recently deceased brother Naucratius by
becoming a monk is convincing and plausible; Elm, 8384.
(79.) Gregory of Nyssa, Letter 19, Maraval, 248249.
(81.) Basil, Letter 58, NPNF, vol. 8, 159; Gregory of Nyssa was not yet bishop of Sasima.
(82.) Ibid., 160.
Page 47 of 55
(83.) Ibid.
(84.) Ecclus 40:24.
(85.) Basil, Letter 59, NPNF, vol. 8, 160.
(86.) Ibid., Letter 60, NPNF, vol. 8, 161.
(87.) Ibid.
(88.) Ibid.
(89.) Ibid.
(92.) Basil, Letters 225, 232, NPNF, vol. 8, 267, 272273. For an interesting discussion of the
brothers relationship surrounding Trinitarian theology, see Jean Danilou, Grgoire de
Nysse travers les lettres de Saint Basile et de Saint Grgoire de Nazianze, VC 19 (1965):
3141.
(94.) Ibid., Letter 225, 267; Danilou, Grgoire de Nysse, 3536.
(96.) Ibid. , Letters 231, 272; 237, 279; 239, 280.
(97.) Ibid. , Letter 37, 135136.
(98.) Gregory of Nazianzus, On the Death of His Father, 5, NPNF, vol. 7, 256.
(99.) Gregory of Nazianzus, Epigrams 136, 165, Paton, 460461, 472473.
(100.) Ibid. , Epigram 165; Paton, 472473. Nonnas brother Gregory was a priest.
(101.) Gregory of Nazianzus, On Caesarius, 4, NPNF, vol. 7, 230.
(102.) Bernardi, 127128.
(103.) See the thorough Introduction in Daley, Gregory of Nazianzus, 160; and McGuckin,
Saint Gregory of Nazianzus, 2326.
(104.) Gregory of Nazianzus, On the Death of His Father, 11, NPNF, vol. 7, 258.
(105.) Ibid., 5, 256.
(106.) Bernardi, 127128.
Page 48 of 55
(107.) Nazianzen wrote four treatises dealing with his surprise ordination and his flight: On
Easter and His Reluctance, Defense of His Flight to Pontus, To Those Who Had Invited Him,
and On the Entrusting of His Fathers Church. See NPNF, vol. 7, 203228, 245247.
(109.) Gregory of Nazianzus, On the Entrusting of His Fathers Church, 5, NPNF, vol. 7, 246.
(110.) Ibid. , On His Sister Gorgonia, 20, 244.
(111.) Gregory of Nazianzus, Letters 12, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55,157, Gallay, vol. 1, 1920, 6671;
vol. 2, 4849.
(112.) Gregory of Nazianzus, On His Sister Gorgonia, NPNF, vol. 7, 238244, especially 12,
13, 241242.
(113.) Ibid. , On Caesarius, 9, 232; for Caesarius knowledge of science, see Gregory of
Nazianzus, Epigrams 91, 92, Paton, 440441.
(116.) Gregory of Nazianzus, Epigrams 32, 75, 76, Paton, 414416, 432433.
(117.) Tomas Hgg, Playing with Expectations: Gregorys Funeral Orations, in Gregory of
Nazianzus, Images and Reflections, eds. Jostein Brtnes and Tomas Hgg (Copenhagen:
Museum Tusculanum Press, 2006), 146147.
(118.) Gregory of Nazianzus, On the Entrusting of His Fathers Church, 5, NPNF, vol. 7, 246.
(120.) Ibid.
(121.) Ibid. , On the Death of His Father, 30, 264; Epigram 30, Paton, 414415.
(122.) Gregory of Nazianzus, Letter 60, Gallay, vol. 1, 78. In the same vein, although the
subject of this letter has nothing to do with honoring parents, Gregory opens Letter 37 this
way, To honor a mother is among the holiest of deeds; Gallay, vol. 1, 46. This is a very
revealing rhetorical flourish.
(123.) Ibid. , Letter 7, Gallay, vol. 1, 10.
(124.) Ibid., 10.
(125.) Ibid.
(127.) Gregory of Nazianzus, Epigram 94, Paton, 440441.
Page 49 of 55
(129.) Gregory of Nazianzus, Epigrams 85100, Paton, 436445.
(130.) Gregory of Nazianzus wrote a total of 254 epigrams. This number does not include the
epigrams he wrote for himself.
(132.) Ibid. , Letter 12, Gallay, vol. 1, 1920. Nazianzen also wrote a lovely poem of 208
verses for Nicobulus, who married his niece; see Carmina quae spectant ad alios, Poem 4,
For Nicobulus, PG 37.15061521.
(134.) Ibid. , Letters 146148, Gallay, vol. 2, 3741, especially 39.
(136.) Ibid. , Letters 2223, 5155, Gallay, vol. 1, 2931, 6671; Letters 167, 171, 174178,
187192, Gallay, vol. 2, 58, 60, 6369, 7883. Letters 5155 are to grandnephew Nicobulus
about education, and Letters 22, 23, 167, 171, 174178 are to Eudoxius the rhetor for
grandnephew Nicobulus; Letters 187192 are to Eudoxius, and rhetors Stagirius, and
Eustochius for grandnephew Nicobulus education. He also wrote Poem 5 for his beloved
grandnephew; see Carmina quae spectant ad alios, PG 37.15211542. See the discussion of
Gregorys relationship with these professional rhetors in Neil McLynn, Among the
Hellenists: Gregory and the Sophists, in Gregory of Nazianzus, Images and Reflections, eds.
Jostein Brtnes and Tomas Hgg (Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 2006), 215218,
235, 237.
(138.) Gregory of Nazianzus does not claim kinship with a martyr for himself or any of his
family. He does write about his family as martyrs, and that will be dealt with later in this
chapter.
(139.) See chapter 1 for discussion of Basils defense against the Neocaesareans.
(140.) Basil, Letter 204, NPNF, vol. 8, 244. Letter 223 also mentions that both his mother and
his grandmother, Elder Macrina, taught him about God; 263; Raymond Van Dam,
Hagiography and History: The Life of Gregory Thaumaturgus, CA 1 (1982): 283.
(142.) Ibid. , Letter 204, 243.
(143.) Gregory of Nyssas version of the life of Gregory of Thaumaturgus is discussed briefly
in chapter 1.
(144.) Bernardi, 308.
Page 50 of 55
(145.) Ibid. ; Van Dam, Hagiography, 286287, 307; Stephen Mitchell, The Life and Lives
of Gregory Thaumaturgus, in Portraits of Spiritual Authority, eds. J. W. Drijvers and J. W.
Watt (Leiden: Brill, 1999), 120128.
(146.) William Telfer, The Cult of St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, HTR 29 (1936): 232233. How
Gregory of Nyssa uses Thaumaturgus to promote the authenticity of the creed is dealt with
in chapter 1.
(147.) Gregory of Nyssa, The Life of Gregory the Wonderworker, 14, 15, in St. Gregory
Thaumaturgus, Life and Works, FOTC, vol. 98, trans. Michael Slusser (Washington, DC:
Catholic University Press, 1998), 8384.
(148.) Stephen Mitchell, Anatolia, Land, Men, and Gods in Asia Minor, the Rise of the Church,
vol. 2 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993), 55. Mario Girardi, Basilio di Cesarea e il culto dei
martiri nel IV secolo, Scrittura e tradizione, Quaderni di Vetera Christianorum 21 (Bari:
Instituto di Studi classici e cristiani, Universit di Bari, 1990), 197198.
(149.) Hippolyte Delehaye, Sanctus, Essai sur le culte des saints dans lAntiquit (Brussels:
Socit des Bollandistes, 1927), 114. The cult of Gregory Thaumaturgus was one of the
oldest for a bishop, although its origin is unknown. Rufinus knew Gregory Thaumaturgus as a
martyr.
(150.) Raymond Van Dam, Becoming Christian, The Conversion of Roman Cappadocia
(Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003), 79; Mitchell, Life and Lives, 123.
(151.) Arnaldo Momigliano, The Life of St. Macrina by Gregory of Nyssa, in On Pagans,
Christians, and Jews (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1987), 206221,
especially 209.
(152.) Stephen Davis, The Cult of Saint Thecla: A Tradition of Womens Piety in Late
Antiquity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), 4045; Tomas Hgg, The Novel in
Antiquity (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983), 159.
(153.) Delehaye, Sanctus, 147.
(154.) Davis, 80.
(155.) Van Dam, Families, 105.
(156.) Gregory of Nyssa, Life of Saint Macrina, Corrigan, 28.
(157.) Francine Cardman, Whose Life Is It? The Vita Macrinae of Gregory of Nyssa, SP 37
(1999): 35.
(158.) Girardi, 197198.
(160.) Monique Alexandre, Les nouveaux martyrs. Motifs martyrologiques dans la vie des
saints et thmes hagiographiques dans lloge des martyrs chez Grgoire de Nysse, in The
Page 51 of 55
Biographical Works of Gregory of Nyssa. Proceedings of the Fifth International Colloquium
on Gregory of Nyssa, Patristic Monograph Series, vol. 12, ed. Andreas Spira (Cambridge,
MA: Philadelphia Patristics Foundation, 1984), 38.
(161.) Philip Rousseau, The Pious Household and the Virgin Chorus, Reflections on Gregory
of Nyssas Life of Macrina, JECS 13 (2005): 172.
(162.) Lisa Maugans Driver, The Cult of the Martyrs in Asterius of Amaseias Vision of the
Christian City, CH 74 (2005): 245.
(163.) Grgoire de Nysse: Vie de Sainte Macrine, in Grgoire de Nysse: Vie de Sainte
Macrine, ed. and trans. Pierre Maraval, SC, vol. 178 (Paris: ditions du Cerf, 1971), 88.
(164.) Alexandre, 3446.
(165.) Gregory of Nyssa, Encomium in xl martyres ii, PG 46.784.56785.30. Nyssen does not
say that he was baptized as a result of this incident, but to relate the drama of the event and
the great effect it had upon his life indicates how powerful it was for him. He also says
specifically that he was still a layperson when the martyrs visited him in a dream. Soon
afterward he was baptized. He claims Macrina and Basil as his teachers, but the dramatic
spiritual intervention in his life is reserved for the Forty Martyrs.
(166.) Van Dam, Becoming Christian, 141.
(167.) Bernardi, 304.
(168.) Driver, 245.
(169.) Girardi, 179.
(170.) Basil of Caesarea, Letter 252, TLG 2040.0506, my translation; see also the translation
in NPNF, vol. 8, 292.
(171.) Basil of Caesarea, Homily on the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, in Let Us Die that We May
Live, Greek Homilies on Christian Martyrs from Asia Minor, Palestine, and Syria, ed. and
trans. Johan Leemans, Wendy Mayer, Pauline Allen, and Boudewijn Dehandschutter (London:
Routledge, 2003), 68.
(174.) It is beyond the intention of my inquiry to analyze the literary genre of the epitaphios
logos. Hgg has provided a thorough literary analysis of Gregory of Nazianzus funeral
encomia for his family. See Hgg, Playing with Expectations, 133151.
(175.) Hippolyte Delehaye, Les passions des martyrs et les genres littraires (Brussels:
Socit des Bollandistes, 1921), 184, 202; Leemans, 2223. A fuller discussion of the
panegyrics to the martyrs is in chapter 4.
Page 52 of 55
(176.) Hgg, Playing with Expectations, 137, footnote 16.
(177.) Delehaye, Les passions, 187.
(178.) Stephanos Efthymiadis, Two Gregories and Three Genres, in Gregory of Nazianzus,
Images and Reflections, eds. Jostein Brtnes and Tomas Hgg (Copenhagen: Museum
Tusculanum Press, 2006), 240.
(179.) Ibid. Efthymiadis point about Gregory having written his own autohagiography for
later generations only strengthens my point here; see especially 245249.
(180.) Peter Brown, Enjoying the Saints in Late Antiquity, EME 9 (2000): 12. He cites the
example of matron Proiecta of Rome. Damasus had no hesitation about writing of her as if
she were already in heaven, with the martyrs, and even hinted that, from heaven, she now
brought comfort to her entire family.
(181.) Delehaye, Les passions, 187
(182.) Ibid., 188.
(183.) Gregory of Nazianzus, Discours 4243, in Grgoire de Nazianze, SC, vol. 384, trans.
Jean Bernardi (Paris: ditions du Cerf, 1992), 29.
(185.) Ibid., 12, 233.
(186.) Ibid., 14, 234.
(187.) Ibid., 17, 235.
(188.) Gregory of Nazianzus, Epigrams 52, 77, 99, Paton, 424425, 432433, 442443.
(189.) Gregory of Nazianzus, On His Sister Gorgonia, NPNF, vol. 7, 238245.
(190.) Gregory of Nazianzus, Discours 612, in Grgoire de Nazianze, SC, vol. 405, trans.
Marie-Ange Calvet-Sebasti (Paris: ditions du Cerf, 1978), 38.
(191.) Gregory of Nazianzus, On His Sister Gorgonia, 6, NPNF, vol. 7, 239.
(192.) Ibid., 8, 240.
(193.) Ibid.
(194.) Momigliano, 212.
(195.) This episode of Gorgonias miracle is dealt with more fully in chapter 4.
(196.) Gregory of Nazianzus, On His Sister Gorgonia, 23, NPNF, vol. 7, 245.
(197.) Ibid.
Page 53 of 55
(199.) Gregory of Nazianzus, On the Death of His Father, NPNF, vol. 7, 255269.
(200.) Nonnas miracles do qualify her as a martyr, but these will be dealt with in chapter 4.
(201.) John McGuckin, Gregory: The Rhetorician as Poet, in Gregory of Nazianzus, Images
and Reflections, eds. Jostein Brtnes and Tomas Hgg (Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum
Press, 2006), 204205.
(203.) Ibid. , Epigrams 52, 424425; 77, 432433; 99, 442443.
(204.) Ibid. , Epigrams 33, 416417; 52b (qua martyr), 424425. 36 (miracle worker), 35
(intercessor).
(205.) Ibid. , Epigram 33, 416417.
(206.) Ibid. , Epigrams 68, 74, 430431, emphasis added.
(207.) Ibid. , Epigram 52, 424425, emphasis added.
(208.) Ibid. , Epigram 37, 418419, emphasis added.
(209.) Gregory of Nazianzus, Panegyric on St. Basil, 6, NPNF vol. 7, 397.
(210.) Ibid., 74, 420.
(211.) Gregory of Nazianzus, Discours 4243, Bernardi, 33.
(212.) Ibid., 37.
(213.) Gregory of Nazianzus, Panegyric on St. Basil, 80, NPNF, vol. 7, 421.
(214.) Ibid., 422.
(215.) Ibid.
(217.) Gregory of Nyssa, Encomium in xl martyres ii, PG 46.776.914; Bernardi, 265, 304.
(218.) Though Jean Robert Pouchet and Pierre Maraval have fully argued for a change of
date for Basils death to 378, I am not convinced. See Jean Robert Pouchet, La date de
llection piscopale de saint Basile et celle de sa mort, RHE 87 (1992): 533.
(220.) Gregory of Nyssa, Eulogy for Basil the Great, trans. Richard McCambly. Available:
http://www.sage.edu/faculty/salmond/nyssa/basil.html, 122. Though two years before, in the
Page 54 of 55
second homily on the Forty Martyrs, Nyssen called his brother a saint who served the
saints, the praises for his brother there are consistent with this funeral panegyric. He is a
great teacher, wise statesman, and accomplished bishop. Gregory of Nyssa, Encomium in xl
martyres ii, PG 46.776.116. See also chapter 2, the section Ekphrasis as Pedagogy.
(221.) Gregory of Nyssa, Eulogy for Basil the Great, McCambly, 19.
(223.) Gregory of Nyssa, Eulogy for Basil the Great, McCambly, 12.
(224.) Ibid., 14.
(225.) Ibid., 18.
(226.) Van Dam, Families, 79.
(227.) Derek Krueger, Writing and the Liturgy of Memory in Gregory of Nyssas Life of
Macrina, JECS 8 (2000): 501; Gregory of Nyssa, Vie de Sainte Macrine, Maraval, 25.
(228.) Krueger, 506.
(229.) Rousseau, The Pious Household, 172.
(231.) Ibid., 31.
(232.) Ibid., 32.
(233.) Alexandre, 39.
(235.) Ibid., 43; Gregory of Nyssa, Vie de Sainte Macrine, Maraval, 3234.
(237.) Though Gregory frames the prayer initially with the bride of Christ imagery, casting
Macrina as the bride finally about to attain her beloved, her prayer conveys none of this. Her
prayer is a defense boldly declaiming her suffering equal to that of a martyr (though
obviously he penned the prayer as well).
(238.) Gregory of Nyssa, Life of Saint Macrina, Corrigan, 49. Italics added for emphasis.
(239.) Ibid.
(240.) Ibid.
(241.) Ibid., 54.
Page 55 of 55
(242.) Gregory of Nyssa, Vie de Sainte Macrine, Maraval, 8485.
(244.) Ibid., 57.
(245.) To uncover nakedness is a biblical euphemism for sexual intercourse. Lv 18:130
specifies sexual prohibitions for maintenance of the honor of the family. Italics added for
emphasis. See Michael D. Coogan, ed., New Oxford Annotated Bible (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2001), 168169.
(246.) Gregory of Nyssa, On Virginity, XIII, NPNF, vol. 5, 359. We should wean ourselves
from this life in the flesh, which has an inevitable follower, death. It could not be indeed that
death should cease working as long as the human race by marriage was working too.
Gregory always allows that sexual intercourse leading to procreation is the remedial
mechanism preventing humanitys extinction after the Fall.
(247.) Gregory of Nyssa, Life of Saint Macrina, Corrigan, 59. That he dwells so much on the
characteristics of a dead body in this passage is proof enough that he has subsumed the
sexual connotation of the Leviticus injunction completely in sexs theological and ontological
ramificationdeath.
(248.) Girardi, 177.
(249.) Macrinas miracles are discussed at length in chapter 4 of this book.
(251.) Gregory of Nyssa, First Homily on the Forty Martyrs, Ib, Leemans, 98.
(252.) Jacobs, 280.
Access brought to you by: Central European University
Library

Kinship With The Martyrs

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Kinship With The Martyrs

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Kinship with the Martyrs

You might also like