St. Gregory Nazianzen, Bishop of Nazianzus

St. Gregory Nazianzen, Bishop and Doctor of the Church:
ca. 329-389 A.D.

Feast day, January 2

Birth, family background and studies

St. Gregory was born at Nazianzus, Cappadocia, Turkey, in ca. 329 A.D., to St. Gregory Nazianzen the Elder and St. Nonna. Gregory's two other siblings were Caesarius and Gorgonia, and are also venerated as saints. St. Gregory studied first at Caesarea, Cappadocia (where he met St. Basil), then in the rhetorical school at Caesarea, Palestine. He studied further for ten years at Athens (where St. Basil and Julian the Apostate were also studying).

Gregory returns to Nazianzus

When he was about 30 years old, St. Gregory joined St. Basil at Pontus on the Iris River, where the two chose to live the contemplative life as hermits. This decision was short-lived for Gregory, because his father, who was about 80 years old, and bishop of Nazianzus, called for Gregory to return home so he can help manage the diocese and the estate. Gregory had to obey. Reluctantly, Gregory was ordained in ca. 362 A.D. by his father. Gregory worked with his father and managed the diocese to prevent a schism. His father however fell into heresy when he made compromises with Arianism. But Gregory brought his father back to orthodoxy. His father died in 374 A.D.

Consecrated as bishop of Sesima

Before Gregory's father passed away, in ca. 372 A.D., St. Basil, now metropolitan of Caesarea, named St. Gregory as bishop of Sesima. Sesima was a newly created see in the middle of territory beset by Arianism. Although St. Gregory was consecrated as bishop, he never went to Sesima, to the dismay of St. Basil, but rather remained as coadjutor to his father. This severely strained the friendship between the two, as Gregory chose to remain and help his father in Nazianzus.

Prevaling over Arianism at Constantinople

After the death of his father in 374 A.D., Gregory continued to administer the see until a new bishop was chosen. He however suffered a breakdown in 375 A.D., and spent the next five years retiring to a monastery in Seleucia, Isauria (near modern Baghdad, Iraq). Here, he lived in much prayer and study. While in Seleucia, in 379 A.D., Gregory was called to help the Church of Constantinople. That Church had been under Arian dominance during the reign of Emperor Valens. But with Valens now dead, a group of orthodox bishops wanted Gregory to revitalize orthodoxy in Constantinople. Gregory went and naturally met opposition. But he prevailed over the Arians, and in 380 A.D., the newly baptized Emperor Theodosius decreed that all his subjects must be orthodox. Theodosius ordered the Arian leaders to submit or leave, and then named Gregory archbishop of Constantinople.

Resigning as bishop, retirement and death

Just a few months after Gregory's installation as bishop of Constantinople, hostilities began anew and the validity of his election was questioned at the Council of Constantinople in 381 A.D. (at which St. Gregory also presided). Fearing then that this present unrest would lead to bloodshed, Gregory left the office of bishop in 382 A.D. and retired to a private life - living a quiet life of prayer, meditation, penance and great austerity at Nazianzus. He devoted the last years of his life to writing until his death in 389 A.D. He died on January 25, 389 at the age of fifty-nine years.

Cappadocian Father and Doctor of the Church

St. Gregory Nazianzen is ranked along with St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory of Nyssa as one of the "three Cappadocian Fathers". Besides his sermons, his writings include: Five Theological Orations, a compilation of Origen's writings which he did with Basil, and a poem entitled De Vita Sua. Proclaimed a Doctor of the Church, St. Gregory is often surnamed "the Theologian" for his eloquent defense of orthodoxy and the decrees of the Council of Nicea in his sermons and treatises (notably his celebrated sermons on the Trinity). He shares the same feast with St. Basil the Great every 2nd of January.

References of this article

• Dictionary of Saints, by John J. Delaney
• Saints for Our Time, by Ed Ransom
• The Doctors of the Church, by John F. Fink
• A Year With the Saints, by Don Bosco Press, Inc.