Fr Alex Swain

Beloved in Christ,

Today we remember Gregory of Nyssa, Bishop and Theologian, who died in the year 394.

He is part of a trio of very important Nicene Christian theologians who fought for what we now follow as orthodox Christianity with regard to the doctrine of the Trinity—fighting against Arianism (the belief propagated by Arius and others that Christ was not fully God and fully human, among other heresies).

The other two—Basil the Great (his older brother, Bishop of Caesarea) and Gregory of Nazianzus (eventual patriarch of Constantinople)—are also very important names in the development of Christian history and the triumph of orthodoxy (of which our tradition is a part).

These three would not have been, ultimately, who they were without blessed Macrina, Basil & Gregory’s sister who created the first urban monastery on her family’s estate, and essentially guided and formed Basil and Gregroy of Nyssa onto the right and proper path through her profound faithfulness, deep trust in God, and criticism of her brother’s ways of life in their younger years.

Gregory is an interesting fellow. He did not want to be Bishop of Nyssa, but Basil pressured him into it as they struggled against Emperor Valens (who was an Arian Christian, not an orthodox one).

He describes the day he was ordained Bishop as “the most miserable day of his life” (Lesser Feasts & Feasts, 2025).

It wasn’t until his older brother Basil died suddenly in 379, shortly followed by his sister several months later, that he truly stepped into the rich philosophical and theological traditions which he came to be known for. He even wrote a biography of Macrina’s life, which can be read online, among many other books and treatises.

Gregory’s life reminds us that no matter who we are, or where we find ourselves in life, God can always transform us in the circumstances which surround us. And his comments on being made a bishop I find particularly amusing!

Saint Gregory of Nyssa, pray for us!

Yours in Christ,

—Fr Alex