St. Gregory Nazianzus.
There were 3 Cappadocian Fathers: Gregory, Basil and his brother Gregory of Nyssa. The first two were fellow-students at Athens. All coevals, they lived in the first generation of Christian power. Martyrdom was unlikely, save from heretics; Julian (361-363), the last pagan emperor, fought them with pen rather than sword--"the gentle persecution" (as Jerome called it)."First, God gave me to my glorious mother, answering her prayers; second, he received me, a welcome gift from her; third, the holy table saved me from death; fourth, the Word gave me twofold speech; fifth, Virginity embraced me in her dear dreams; sixth, I entered the priesthood with Basil; seventh, the Father plucked me from the deep; eighth, I cleansed well my hands of heresies; ninth, I brought the Trinity, O Lord, to New Rome; tenth, I was assailed by stones and by friends"--Epigram 79.
Gregory (c.329-379, Feast Days Jan 2 & 25, depicted in Byzantine art with balding head and squarish beard) was born to Nonna, a devout Christian (Epigram 25 refers enigmatically to her "secret troubles"), and to Gregory, Bishop of Nazianzus, an ardent Trinitarian. Both parents died in 374; Gregory mourns them, also his brother and sister in Epigram 78.
Studies over, Gregory lived the monastic life ("the greatest philosophy"--Oration 25.4) with Basil, producing the 'Philocalia', an Origen anthology. In 362, he reluctantly went home to assist his father as consecrated suffragan; Basil (371) appointed him Bishop of Sasima, an absentee position.
In 374, Gregory resumed the contemplative life, before accepting the See of Constantinople to combat the Arians, which he did for two years (379-381) with eloquence and physical courage. His final years were spent in solitude and writing.
Dubbed 'The Theologian' by the Council of Chalcedon, also (with Basil and John Chrysostom) 'Hierarch of the Faith,' Gregory was the 'Christian Demosthenes' for his eulogy (Oration 43) of Basil, achieving an "eloquent synthesis of Hellenic culture and Christian values" (George Kennedy, Greek Rhetoric under Christian Emperors, 1983, p.24).
Some 1500 manuscripts attest his popularity. Except (perhaps--the surviving fragment is disputed) one on Ezekiel, Gregory wrote no Biblical commentaries. He was the first Christian to collect his own letters, 245 in all. Three (101-102, 202) importantly analyse the Apollinarian heresy; no. 51 stresses the virtues of epistolographic concision and clarity.
Of his 45 speeches, most were delivered at Constantinople. Nine were soon Latinised by Rufinus of Aquileia, giving him Western currency. The five 'Theological Orations' have special Trinitarian value. Others celebrate major church festivals and deceased kin. Two are invectives against the dead Julian.
Gregory was the first major Christian poet. One of his 407 influences according to Elizabeth Barrett Browning's 'Where Are My Winged Words?' 254 epigrams comprise book 8 of the Greek Anthology. They comport 3 themes: himself, the deceased, and tomb-robbing, evidently rampant at the time. The others, more elaborate, create "a new level of autobiography. Only Augustine's Confessions are more revealing" (F.W.Norris, Encyclopedia of Early Christianity, 1997)Herbert Musurillo, S.J., concurs, adding, "They are an old man's final comment on the Christian message as he understood it and wished to transmit it to posterity."
J.M.Cocking's claim (Imagination: a Study in the History of Ideas, 1991) that Gregory believed all Scriptural interpretations to be equally true is nonsense. He was unswervingly Nicene. Defining the mutual indwelling of the Holy Trinity, apropos the Gospel's "I am in the Father and the Father in me," he popularised the term 'Perichoresis', now a 'buzz-word' in British journalism.
The Ephesus (431) and Chalcedon (451) Councils applauded his Christology (emphasing the human side). He also foreshadowed Mariology: "Anyone not believing that Mary is the Mother of God ('Theotokos') is severed from the God-Head" (Letter 101). The Eucharist was upheld as "the external sacrifice, antitype of the great mysteries" (Oration 2.95). Like Basil, he defended selective Christian use of pagan literature, likening (Oration 43) its value to snake-derived medicine. His comments on high-living clergy and women attracted Jerome, whose intellectual mentor he was.
"How long shall we hide the lamp under the bushel, and withhold from others full knowledge of the Holy Spirit?"--Oration 12.6
Further reading:
* Gregory of Nazianzus: Autobiographical Poems, ed. Carolinne White (1997);
* Rosemary Ruether, Gregory of Nazianzus: Rhetor and Philosopher (1969).
* 'Googling' delivers 9180 sites, including his Catholic Encyclopedia notice.
From a sermon by Saint Gregory Nazianzen, bishop
It is a holy thought to pray for the dead What is man that you are mindful of him? What is this new mystery surrounding me? I am both small and great, both lowly and exalted, mortal and immortal, earthly and heavenly. I am to be buried with Christ and to rise again with him, to become a co-heir with him, a son of God, and indeed God himself.
This is what the great mystery means for us; this is why God became man and became poor for our sake: it was to raise up our flesh, to recover the divine image, to re-create mankind, so that all of us might become one in Christ who perfectly became in us everything that he is himself. So we are no longer to be male and female, bar barian and Scythian, slave and free--distinctions deriving from the flesh--but are to bear within ourselves only the seal of God, by whom and for whom we were created. We are to be so formed and moulded by him that we are recognized as belonging to his one family.
If only we could be what we hope to be, by the great kindness of our generous God! He asks so little and gives so much, in this life and in the next, to those who love him sincerely. In a spirit of hope and out of love for him, let us then bear and endure all things and give thanks for everything that befalls us, since even reason can often recognize these things as weapons to win salvation. And meanwhile let us commend to God our own souls and the souls of those who, being more ready for it, have reached the place of rest before us although they walked the same road as we do.
Lord and Creator of all, and especially of your creature man, you are the God and Father and ruler of your children; you are the Lord of life and death, you are the guardian and benefactor of our souls. You fashion and transform all things in their due season through your creative Word, as you know to be best in your deep wisdom and providence. Receive now those who have gone ahead of us in our journey from this life.
And receive us too at the proper time, when you have guided us in our bodily life as long as may be for our profit. Receive us prepared indeed by fear of you, but not troubled, not shrinking back on that day of death or uprooted by force like those who are lovers of the world and the flesh. Instead, may we set out eagerly for that everlasting and blessed life which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
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| Title Annotation: | Fathers Of The Church VI |
|---|---|
| Author: | Baldwin, Barry |
| Publication: | Catholic Insight |
| Date: | Oct 1, 2004 |
| Words: | 1188 |
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