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Saint Gregory, the younger brother of Basil the Great, illustrious in speech
and a zealot for the Orthodox Faith, was born in 331. His brother Basil
was encouraged by their elder sister Macrina to prefer the service
of God to a secular career (see July 19); Saint Gregory was moved in
a similar way by his godly mother Emily, who, when Gregory was still
a young man, implored him to attend a service in honor of the holy
Forty Martyrs at her retreat at Annesi on the River Iris. Saint Gregory
came at his mother's bidding, but being wearied with the journey, and
feeling little zeal, he fell asleep during the service. The Forty Martyrs
then appeared to him in a dream, threatening him and reproaching him
for his slothfulness. After this he repented and became very diligent
in the service of God.
Gregory became bishop in 372, and because of his Orthodoxy he was exiled in 374
by Valens, who was of one mind with the Arians. After the death of
Valens in 378, Gregory was recalled to his throne by the Emperor Gratian.
He attended the Local Council of Antioch, which sent him to visit the
churches of Arabia and Palestine, which had been defiled and ravaged
by Arianism. He attended the Second Ecumenical Council, which was assembled
in Constantinople in 381. Having lived some sixty years and left behind
many remarkable writings, he reposed about the year 395. The acts of
the Seventh Ecumenical Council call him 'Father of Fathers."
Apolytikion in
the Fourth Tone:
O God of our Fathers, ever dealing with us according to Thy gentleness: take
not Thy mercy from us, but by their entreaties guide our life in peace.
Kontakion in the
Second Tone:
Rejoicing with the Angels and taking delight in the Divine Light, Gregory of
Nyssa, the vigilant mind, the God inspired hierarch of the Church, and wisdom's
revered hymnographer, intercedeth unceasingly for us all.
Source: http://www.goarch.org
Read lives of other Saints - http://www.truechristianity.info/en/saints_en.php
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