Saint of the day for January 14: the story of San Gregorio Nazianzeno

(about 325 - about 390)

The story of San Gregorio Nazianzeno

After his baptism at the age of 30, Gregory gladly accepted the invitation of his friend Basilio to join him in a newly founded monastery. Loneliness was broken when Gregory's father, a bishop, needed help in his diocese and estate. It seems that Gregory was ordained a priest practically by force, and only reluctantly accepted responsibility. He skillfully avoided a schism he threatened when his father compromised with Arianism. At the age of 41 Gregory was elected suffragan bishop of Caesarea and immediately came into conflict with Valens, the emperor, who supported the Arians.

An unfortunate by-product of the battle was the cooling of the friendship of two saints. Basilio, his archbishop, sent him to a miserable and unhealthy city on the border of unjustly created divisions in his diocese. Basilio reproached Gregory for not having gone to his seat.

When the protection for Arianism ended with the death of Valens, Gregory was called to rebuild the faith in the great see of Constantinople, which had been under the Aryan teachers for three decades. Withdrawn and sensitive, he feared being drawn into the maelstrom of corruption and violence. First he stayed at a friend's house, which became the only Orthodox church in the city. In such an environment, he began to deliver the great Trinity sermons for which he is famous. Over time, Gregory rebuilt faith in the city, but at the cost of great suffering, slander, insults and even personal violence. An intruder even attempted to take over his bishopric.

His last days were spent in solitude and austerity. He has written religious poems, some of which are autobiographical, of great depth and beauty. He was hailed simply as "the theologian". San Gregorio Nazianzeno shares his liturgical feast with San Basilio Magno on January 2nd.

Reflection

It may be a little comfort, but the post-Vatican II unrest in the Church is a mild storm compared to the devastation caused by the Arian heresy, a trauma the Church has never forgotten. Christ did not promise the kind of peace we would like to have: no problem, no opposition, no pain. In one way or another, holiness is always the way of the cross.