The birthplace of Saint Gregory the Theologian was the Second, or Southern, Cappadocia, the city of Nazianzus , after which it is called Nazianzus. His parents were noble and honorable people: his father, also named Gregory, and his mother, Nonna. But his father was previously an unbeliever, descended from unbelieving parents: a pagan father and a Jewish mother. In his faith, he followed both, adhering to both pagan error and Jewish unbelief. This is the essence of the so-called Hypsistarian false teaching . Saint Gregory's mother, Blessed Nonna, was descended from Christian parents and was herself a devout Christian. From early childhood, she was raised in piety and perfectly instructed in the fear of God, which is the beginning of all wisdom. By God's design, she was united in marriage to her unbelieving husband, so that he too might be brought to the holy faith: "For the unbelieving husband is sanctified ," according to the Apostle, "by the believing wife" ( 1 Cor. 7:14 ). And so it happened. Nonna, constantly persuading her husband with divinely wise words and earnestly praying to God for him, brought him, with God's help, to the Christian faith. Her husband received a vision from God in a dream: it seemed to him that he was singing words from a psalm of David, words he had never uttered himself, but had only heard from his wife, who prayed often. He himself never prayed: he neither knew how to pray, nor did he want to. The words he sang in the dream were as follows: "I rejoiced when they said to me, 'Let us go to the house of the Lord'" ( Psalm 122:1 ). While singing this, he felt a special sweetness in his heart, and upon awakening, he rejoiced, and then told his wife about it. She realized that God Himself was calling her husband to His Holy Church, and she began to instruct him even more fervently in the Christian faith and guided him on the path to salvation. At this time, Saint Leontius, Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, who was traveling to the First Ecumenical Council, convened in Nicaea in 959 , happened to stop in the city of Nazianzus. Blessed Nonna brought her husband to him, and Gregory was baptized by the saint's hands. After receiving holy baptism, he began a righteous and God-pleasing life, befitting a true and perfect Christian. Moreover, he succeeded so much in evangelism and good works that he was later elected to the episcopal throne in the same city of Nazianzus (which will be discussed below).
Living with such a husband in honorable matrimony, blessed Nonna desired to become the mother of a male child. She sent up fervent prayers to the Giver of all blessings that He would grant her a son, and even before his conception, she promised, as Anna once did Samuel , to dedicate him to the service of God. The Lord, who fulfills the will of those who fear Him and hears their prayers, fulfilled the request of the pious wife's heart and, in a nocturnal dream, by His revelation foretold to her the child who would be born of her. And blessed Nonna, even before the birth of her son, saw what his face would be, and foreknew his name. When she subsequently gave birth to a male child , she named him Gregory after his father, as had been foretold to her in a dream. She offered great thanksgiving to God and entrusted the child she had just born to His providence. With full zeal, she offered to God what she had received from Him through prayer. However, the infant was not baptized immediately. In those days, many Christians voluntarily postponed baptism until adulthood and until the year in which Christ our Lord was baptized by John in the Jordan—most often until the age of thirty-three and a half . This custom was subsequently abolished for good reasons by the same Saint Gregory the Theologian , Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, and other great Fathers. Thus, Saint Gregory was not baptized immediately after birth, but, in accordance with the ancient custom accepted by Christians, his baptism was postponed until the age of Christ.
The youth was raised according to Christian customs. When he reached school age, he was immediately taught books. As he grew in years, Gregory matured in intelligence. True to his name , he was prudent, cheerful in spirit, zealous in his studies, and surpassed his peers in intelligence. Even adolescence did not hinder him from understanding what those who have reached maturity and intelligence are taught. Even in childhood, he displayed behavior characteristic of elders. He hated childish games, idle amusements, and all kinds of spectacles, but practiced far better things and spent his time in study rather than idleness. When he reached adolescence, his pious mother, with many of her maternal instructions, instructed him in piety. She revealed to him that he was the fruit of her prayers, that through fervent prayers she had requested him from God and, even before his conception, had ordained him to serve Him. The good youth heaped his mother's words upon his heart, and his soul was enlightened by faith, hope, and love for Christ, the true God. Above all, he loved chastity of soul and purity of body, and made it his law to carefully preserve his virginity until his death. He was inspired to this end, partly by his mother's repeated and heartfelt instructions, and partly by a vision he had in his youth. Much later, he himself related the latter thus: once, in a dream, it seemed to him that two maidens, clothed in white robes, stood near him. Both were beautiful in face, and of equal age and years. They wore no outward adornment: no gold, no silver, no pearls, no precious stones, no costly necklaces; they were adorned neither with soft silk garments nor with golden girdles; They did not boast of the beauty of their faces, nor of their luxuriant eyebrows, nor of their flowing hair, nor of any of the other features with which worldly maidens strive to please and capture the hearts of young men. Dressed simply in pure white garments and modestly girded, they had not only their heads but also their faces covered with thin veils. Their eyes were cast down; their cheeks were flushed with maidenly shyness and testified to chastity; their lips resembled the color of a bright red rose; their silence revealed the greatest modesty. Saint Gregory, looking at them, felt great joy in his heart and thought that these were not earthly beings, but higher ones, transcending human nature. They, seeing that he was greatly pleased with the sight of them, fell in love with him and embraced him as if he were their child. Then he asked them: who are they and where did they come from? The first said that she was Purity, and the other called herself Chastity. At the same time, they explained that they stood before the throne of the King of Glory, Christ, and were delighted with the beauty of heavenly maidens. They said:
"Be of one mind with us, my child; unite your mind with ours and make your face like ours. Then we will lift you, shining with the greatest radiance, to the heavens and place you near the immortal Trinity."
Having said this, they began to ascend into the sky and, like birds, soared upward. The youth Gregory watched them with joyful eyes until they disappeared into the heavens. Upon awakening, he felt indescribable joy, and his heart was filled with gladness. From that moment on, he was inflamed with zeal for the careful preservation of his virginity. He strove to preserve it through complete abstinence, avoiding all tasty food, drunkenness, and gluttony.
After the birth of Saint Gregory, Blessed Nonna gave birth to another son, named Caesarius , and a daughter, Gorgonia. She raised them in piety and bookish learning. Meanwhile, Blessed Gregory, desiring to perfect himself in oratorical eloquence, scholarly wisdom, and all worldly Hellenic learning, set out first for Caesarea in Palestine , which at that time was renowned for its schools and scholarship. There, he had the rhetorician Thespesius as his tutor. He then moved to Alexandria , collecting treasures of wisdom from many men and enriching his intellect. After this, he desired to travel to Athens and boarded an Aegina ship with pagans. As they sailed past the island of Samos , a violent storm arose at sea. Everyone despaired of saving their lives and wept over the prospect of bodily death. Gregory wept, fearing spiritual death, for he had not yet been baptized, only a catechumen. He recalled God's past miracles in the waters: the passage of the Israelites through the Red Sea and the rescue of Jonah from the belly of the whale. He prayed to God with cries, asking for deliverance from destruction in the waves. These misfortunes during his sea voyage were revealed to his parents in a dream. They immediately began to pray and shed fervent tears before God, beseeching Him to help their son in distress at sea. God, who had preserved His servant Gregory for the benefit of many and was preparing him to be a pillar of the Church, calmed the fierce storm and rebuked the winds; complete calm fell upon the sea. All on the ship, seeing themselves, beyond all expectation, saved from destruction and as if snatched from the bonds of death, glorified Christ God. They knew that only by the invocation of His all-powerful name in Gregory's prayer had the sea been calmed. Moreover, a young man, the saint's traveling companion, saw in a dream one night, during a stormy sea, that Gregory's mother, Blessed Nonna, had quickly arrived by sea, rescued the sinking ship, and brought it to shore. When the storm subsided, he told everyone of the vision, and they all confessed Gregory's God as their great Helper, thanked Him, and believed in Him. Furthermore, Gregory's father, who had tearfully prayed for his son in Nazianzus and then fallen asleep after his prayer, had another vision. He saw a furious demon, Erinnos, who tried to destroy Gregory at sea, but Gregory seized him with his hands and vanquished him. From this vision, Gregory's father learned of his son's deliverance from destruction and, together with his wife, offered thanks to God.
Saint Gregory completed his subsequent sea voyage safely and arrived in Athens. There, studying secular sciences, he was a source of admiration for all due to the extraordinary acuity of his intellect and chaste life. A short time later, Saint Basil also arrived in Athens to perfect his secular wisdom. Both Gregory and Basil became sincere friends and companions. They shared the same home, the same food, the same spirit, the same wisdom, the same character—like brothers. Both became famous and respected in Athens, for in a short time they surpassed their teachers; being students themselves, they became teachers to their teachers. At the same time, when Constantius, son of Constantine the Great, reigned over the Greeks and Romans, Julian, who later became king and an apostate from God, was studying philosophy in Athens. Gregory often spoke of him:
– What great evil the Greek and Roman lands are nurturing!
He already foresaw what was about to happen.
Gregory and Basil lived in Athens for many years, mastered all the sciences , and perfected themselves in them to such an extent that they themselves excelled at all Athenian wisdom. Basil then went to Egypt to study spiritual wisdom with divinely inspired men, as recounted in his Life, and the Athenians persuaded Gregory to accept the rank of teacher through their entreaties. Having lived there for a short time after Basil, Gregory heard that his father had been appointed bishop of Nazianzus. He immediately returned to his father's homeland, already thirty years old, and received holy baptism from his father's hands. He wanted to immediately renounce the world and go into the desert, but, being restrained by his father, he remained at his home. He made it a rule for himself never to swear oaths or invoke the name of God in vain, and he maintained this rule until the end of his life. He constantly occupied himself with the reading of divine books and spent days and nights in divine contemplation. He repeatedly contemplated Christ in visions. His father, against his will, ordained him a priest and then wanted to consecrate him as a bishop. But Saint Gregory, detesting such rank and honors, and yearning for monastic silence, secretly fled home and came to Pontus to his friend, Saint Basil. Basil was also already a priest and had founded a monastery in Pontus, where many monks gathered. He wrote to Gregory from Pontus, persistently inviting him to join him. Thus, as before in Athens, they began to live together again, each holding the other as a model of virtue and imitating one another. Together, they wrote rules for the monks on the fasting life. Thus, Saint Gregory lived with Saint Basil for quite a long time.
Meanwhile, Gregory's brother Caesarius died. His parents mourned him deeply. Meanwhile, his father wrote to Gregory, tearfully urging him to return home and help him in his old age. Blessed Gregory, partly afraid to disobey his father, and partly seeing the needs of the Church, which was then greatly troubled by the heresy of Arius—a heresy to which Gregory's father, lacking a theological education, had been partially seduced—returned from Pontus to Nazianzus. There, he assisted his aging father in church administration and economic matters, explained to him the harm of the Arian heresy, and confirmed him in Orthodoxy.
After the death of Emperor Constantius, son of Constantine 970 , Julian ascended the throne, and Gregory's prophecy concerning him was fulfilled: this lawless man brought great evil; he openly renounced Christ and instigated persecution against the Church of Christ. Saint Gregory combated him with many of his divinely inspired writings, exposing his errors, pernicious pagan inclinations, and false Hellenic fables. This lawbreaker reigned briefly and died in disgrace 971. After him, the pious Emperor Jovian 972 ascended the throne , and the Christian faith flourished again. After Jovian, the Arian Valens 973 ascended the throne , and the Arian heresy again began to spread; the Orthodox were oppressed everywhere. At the same time, in Caesarea in Cappadocia, Arianism led many astray and brought confusion to the Church of Christ. Even Bishop Eusebius , insufficiently versed in Divine Scripture, began to waver and allow deviations from the true faith. Upon learning of this, Saint Gregory wrote to him, advising him to entreat Abba Basil to return to Caesarea to combat the errors. He also wrote to Saint Basil himself, offering friendly advice and asking him to forget Eusebius's previous anger at him, go to Caesarea to aid the Orthodox, and once again strengthen the Church, which was being shaken by the Arians. Thus, Saint Gregory, having brokered peace between Bishop Eusebius and Saint Basil through his letters, enabled Saint Basil to return to Caesarea in Cappadocia. Immediately upon his return, the Arians were disgraced, some of them fell silent, while others fled. Bishop Eusebius rejoiced at Saint Basil. After living with him in friendship for some time, he died, and Saint Basil the Great was enthroned by the Orthodox, against his will. The heretics, indignant and embittered by this, arranged for the separation of the city of Tyana from Caesarea. At that time, Bishop Anthimos of Tyana in 975 , feigning Orthodoxy but in reality a heretic, separated from Basil along with like-minded bishops and became Metropolitan of Tyana. He thus arranged for the division of the Cappadocian region into two parts, which led to protracted disputes over the boundaries of the diocese. Saint Basil, seeing that some cities and villages were being torn away from his diocese, decided to arrange matters in the following way: between Caesarea and Tyana there was one insignificant and little-known city, Sasima 976Saint Basil decided to establish a new episcopal see and ordain a pious man as bishop there. He hoped this would both end the strife and preserve many people for piety. Not having an experienced man in mind for this purpose, he wrote to his friend, Saint Gregory, asking him to accept consecration as bishop for the see of Sasima, for no one else would be as capable of strengthening piety there as he. Saint Gregory persistently refused his letters. Basil wrote to him repeatedly, but, failing to achieve his goal, he went himself to the city of Nazianzus. There, after consulting with the elderly Gregory, Bishop of Nazianzus and Gregory's father, they began to persuade his friend Gregory to accept consecration to the episcopal rank. Thus, Gregory was forced to accept the episcopal see of Sasima. When Metropolitan Anthimos of Tyana, who counted Sasima within his diocese, learned of this, he led an army there to prevent Gregory from assuming the see. He lay in wait for Gregory along the way. Saint Gregory, learning of Anthimos's plots and the troops he had brought, withdrew to a monastery and tended the sick there, then settled in the desert, seeking the solitude he desired. A short time later, at the request of his parents, he returned to Nazianzus. His parents were already quite old and, due to their advanced years, needed his assistance, especially since they no longer had any other children besides him. Caesarius, their other son, had already died, as has already been mentioned, and their daughter, Gorgonia, had also departed for eternity . Their brother, Saint Gregory, honored the burial of both of them with funeral orations. Then he was left alone with his parents, like the apple of their eye, and it was impossible for him not to fulfill their request. He was to serve them in their old age and, after their death, perform the customary burial for them.
When Saint Gregory returned from the desert to Nazianzus, his father Gregory, already weakened by old age, wanted to place his son on the episcopal throne in Nazianzus while he was still alive. He urged his son to do so not only through persuasion and entreaties, but also by oath. He did not abandon his concern for the well-being of the Church, nor did he wish to disobey his father's orders, but he was by no means desirous of accepting the episcopal throne.
“It is impossible for me, father,” he said, “while you are still alive and have not passed into eternity, to accept your throne.
The father, no longer insisting on his son accepting the throne and only entrusting him with the care of the Church, said:
“While I live, be my son, a support for my old age, and after my death, do as you please.”
Soon Saint Gregory's father, the aged Bishop of Nazianzus, died in 978 , having occupied the episcopal throne for forty-five years. He lived only a hundred years. He was buried with great ceremony, with the participation of Saint Basil the Great, who attended the funeral. Nonna, the mother of Saint Gregory, Basil's friend, still survived, but she too soon reposed in the Lord, also having reached the age of one hundred in 979. Saint Gregory, having buried his pious parents, was freed from the care of them; but he also desired to be freed from glory, especially since the inhabitants of his native city urged him to succeed his father as bishop. He departed secretly for Seleucia in 980 and remained there at the Church of the Holy Protomartyr Thecla. From there, he was recalled by the friendly entreaties of Basil the Great and, upon his return, took charge of the almshouses and hospitals. Saint Basil, to provide shelter for those without a place to lay their heads, built spacious buildings and, gathering there the poor and the sick, widows, orphans, and wanderers, provided daily food for them, entrusting their care to his beloved friend. Thus, Saint Gregory was a feeder of the poor, a servant of the sick, a comforter of wanderers.
At this time, a new heresy arose from the Arian heresy, which had troubled the Church of God for many years, like a new head from some hydra , and it tempted many. This was the heresy of Macedonius, who blasphemed the Holy Spirit. The Arians professed that the Father is uncreated, pre-eternal God, while the Son is created, yet neither consubstantial nor co-eternal with the Father. The Macedonians, however, recognized the Son as equal to the Father but blasphemed the Holy Spirit, some saying that He is a creature and not God, while others recognized Him as neither God nor a creature. Saint Gregory called them semi-Arians, since they venerated the Son but demeaned the Holy Spirit. This heresy was particularly widespread in Byzantium. At the conviction of Saint Basil the Great and the general advice of many other Orthodox bishops gathered at the council, Saint Gregory, as a man of profound intellect and powerful eloquence, was to travel to Byzantium to refute heretical wisdom and defend the true dogmas of the holy faith. But before he could set out for Byzantium, Saint Basil, after a brief illness, died in 982. Thus was extinguished the universal luminary of the faith. Saint Gregory wept deeply for him and, having honored him with a funeral sermon, set out on the journey that lay before him. When he reached the royal city of Byzantium, he was joyfully greeted by pious Christians. He found the Church of Christ utterly diminished. The number of believers was easily counted, since most of the city had followed the heresies. All the churches of God, majestic and richly adorned, were in the hands of the heretics. Only the small and dilapidated church of Saint Anastasia, rejected by the heretics, was left to the Orthodox. Saint Gregory immediately, like David, who once armed himself with a sling against the Philistines, armed himself with the word of God against the heretics, defeated them in disputes and destroyed their dogmatic errors, like a spider's web. Daily he converted many from error to Orthodoxy with his God-wise and God-inspired speeches and, in a short time, so increased the number of faithful members of the Church of Christ that it is impossible to count; the number of heretics, however, decreased from day to day, so that what is said in Holy Scripture about the house of David and the house of Saul came true: "The house of David grew stronger and stronger, but the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker" ( 2 Samuel 3:1).). The evil inflicted on the Church by the Arians and Macedonians had not yet passed, when a new heretic from Syria, Apollinaris, arose, who held incorrect views regarding the Incarnation of the Lord. He considered the Incarnation false: Christ supposedly had no soul, but rather divinity. Being eloquent and skilled in Hellenic wisdom, he lured many into his heresy, and his disciples spread far and wide, snatching up those ignorant of theology and luring them, as with a fishing rod, to destruction. Then again, the good ascetic of piety, Saint Gregory, undertook a great struggle, entering into combat with the heretics, rebuking, entreating, and forbidding those who had fallen away from the true faith, while confirming some in the faith and restoring others from their fall. At the same time, the disciples of Apollinaris, circulating among the people, slandered Saint Gregory, claiming he divided Christ into two persons. By zealously spreading such lies, they aroused the people's anger and malice against the saint: after all, even a drop of water, falling often enough, will pierce a stone. People incapable of understanding the intricate heretical discourses or comprehending the depth of the mystery of Christ's incarnation, revered heretics as true shepherds and recognized them as Orthodox teachers; however, a true shepherd, who taught the Gospel, was considered a heretic. Having incited the crowd, they threw stones at the saint, as the Jews once did at the holy Protomartyr Stephen. However, they were unable to kill him, for God preserved His saint. Unable to satisfy their anger, they brutally attacked him and brought him to trial before the city governor as some kind of rebel, the cause of unrest and unrest. The saint, innocent of any crime, yet distinguished by his meekness and humility, amid this calamity and the people's unprovoked attacks upon him, prayed only to God, to His Christ: "In Your name, O Christ, 'Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me'" ( Psalm 23:4 ). The governor, knowing his innocence and seeing the unjust malice of man, set him free. Thus he became a martyr, but without wounds or torture, a crowned head, but without wounds, and had only one desire—to suffer for Christ.
Having shone through such exploits and his persistent struggle against heretics, Saint Gregory became known to all. His wisdom was celebrated everywhere, and for it he received a new name from the entire Holy Orthodox Church—the name of "theologian," like the first theologian, Saint John the Virgin, Christ's beloved disciple. This name, "theologian," while common to all great teachers and saints, for they all theologized, worthily glorifying the Holy Trinity, was adopted by Saint Gregory in a special way and became his additional name. It was bestowed by the Church as a sign of his triumph and victory over many great heretics. From that time on, everyone began to call him "the Theologian." He was deeply beloved by the Orthodox. The entire host of pious people desired to see him on the patriarchal throne. Moreover, Patriarch Peter of Alexandria (983) , who succeeded Athanasius the Great, wrote to Saint Gregory the Theologian , entrusting him with the patriarchal throne of Constantinople, as the most worthy and one who had labored greatly for the benefit of the Church of Christ. But this was immediately hindered by malicious individuals.
There was a Greek philosopher in Constantinople, a member of the Cynic school (984) , named Maximus, an Egyptian by birth. He was distinguished by cunning, deceit, hypocrisy, and malicious intent. Appearing before the holy pastor, Gregory the Theologian , he renounced Hellenic atheism and, after baptism, entered the bosom of the Holy Church. However, he lived in the vanity of the world and hypocritically cloaked himself in reverence, as if in sheep's clothing, while at heart he remained a wolf, which was soon revealed. Saint Gregory, unaware of his deceit and considering his conversion from paganism to Christianity a great deed, sheltered him as a companion and friend, made him his table companion, and then a member of the church clergy. He followed the example of Judas—he plotted to desert his teacher and spiritual father and began to fight against him. To carry out his plan, he found an assistant in the person of a priest who did not fear God and was skilled in devious schemes. In alliance with him, Maximus began cunningly and secretly to seize the patriarchal throne in Constantinople. But since such a plan would require a large amount of money to sway the majority to their cause through bribery and gifts, they began to focus primarily on money. With Satan's help, they soon achieved their goal in the following manner: A priest from the island of Phasos (985) arrived in Byzantium with a large sum of money to purchase marble slabs brought from Proconnis (986 ) for a church building . Having tempted him with various unrealistic promises, the conspirators took the money, which was sufficient to achieve their wicked plan, and secretly sent many rich gifts to Patriarch Peter in Alexandria, as well as to his bishops and clergy, earnestly asking him to send bishops to Byzantium who would elevate Maximus to the patriarchal throne. Peter, enticed by the gifts and seemingly forgetting his previous letter to Saint Gregory, immediately yielded to their requests. He sent Egyptian bishops to Constantinople, who arrived there without delay. Unrevealed to anyone—not to Pastor Gregory, not to the clergy, not to any of the authorities—they appeared with Maximus in the church during matins and had already begun the ordination, desiring to consecrate him as archbishop. Saint Gregory the TheologianHe was ill. This immediately became known to everyone. Priests, members of the clergy, and a multitude of people, both Orthodox and heretics, immediately gathered in the church. Everyone, astonished by such a subtle trick and illegal consecration, became inflamed with anger and began shouting at the arriving bishops, trying in every way to hinder them in this completely illegal matter. Dismissed from the church in disgrace, they went to the house of a flute player and there completed the improper consecration, and then proclaimed Maximus Patriarch of Constantinople with the assistance of assistants, both clergy and laymen. Some of them had been excommunicated from the Church for their sins, others were hired for a fee, and still others were deceived by promises of gifts and honors; all such were adherents of Maximus and supported him. The majority, moreover, the most honorable citizens, became inflamed with anger and reproached Maximus with sharp reproaches and accusations; They expressed displeasure even to Saint Gregory the Theologian himself for accepting such a man as his cohabitant and honoring him with his friendship.
The saint answered them:
"Do not be angry with me, men, for having done good to this man without foreseeing his malice. Are we to blame for not being able to foresee someone's malice? Only God alone can know the secret of a person's inner life. Moreover, are we not commanded by the law itself to open our bosom in a fatherly and loving manner to everyone who comes to us: 'Him that cometh to me ,' says the Savior, 'I will in no wise cast out'" ( John 6:37 ). It was also important to me that Maximus, abandoning Hellenistic error, came to holy baptism and, instead of serving Hercules , began to serve the Holy Trinity. Moreover, he seemed virtuous, albeit hypocritically, but his hypocrisy and malice have only now become clearly evident. It is not given to us to investigate such matters; we do not penetrate human thoughts, nor do we know the future, unless God reveals it to us. We look only at the face, but God sees the heart.
These words calmed the people and they began to regard Saint Gregory the Theologian with even greater love. Maximus, accompanied by the council of Egyptian bishops who had appointed him as a bishop, went to the pious Emperor Theodosius the Great ( 988) , who was then with his troops in Thessalonica (989 ), and asked for confirmation of his rights to the throne of Constantinople. He, an outcast, could not obtain confirmation based on church statutes, and therefore sought to obtain church governance by royal decree, intending to torture rather than ordain. The pious emperor became greatly enraged and, with threats, drove away Maximus and the bishops who had arrived with him. They then all went to Alexandria, where Maximus began to hatch similar plots. Having bribed the clergy of the Alexandrian church with a considerable sum of money, Maximus brazenly and shamelessly addressed Patriarch Peter: "Either intercede for the throne of Constantinople for me, or I will not abandon yours." Using treacherous means, he dug a trench for the patriarch, and would certainly have carried out his evil plan had not the city's governor quickly learned of it. Fearing unrest among the people, he shamefully expelled Maximus from Alexandria.
Meanwhile, Saint Gregory the Theologian was so distressed by physical illnesses in Constantinople that he was forced to abandon his duties as governor of the Church of Constantinople and wanted to return to his homeland, Nazianzus. He decided to give the people a final address, urging them to zealously preserve the faith and perform good deeds. The people realized he wanted to leave Constantinople. Shouts and loud weeping were heard in the church. Everyone began to speak unanimously:
"Father! By leaving us, you are taking with you the teaching of the Holy Trinity. Without you, there will be no true confession of the Holy Trinity in this city. Orthodoxy and piety will leave the city with you."
Hearing these cries and the people's lamentations, Saint Gregory postponed his intention and promised to remain with them until the next council was convened. At this time, they expected the bishops to soon assemble and elect a worthy man to the patriarchate. Saint Gregory also anticipated this: only upon seeing a worthy shepherd on the patriarchal throne did he intend to return to his homeland. Meanwhile, the pious Emperor Theodosius waged war against the barbarians and, after defeating them, returned to Constantinople in triumph. The Arians still held the cathedral patriarchal church and had the Arian Demophilus as their patriarch; the Orthodox, however, retained the small and dilapidated church of Saint Anastasia. The Emperor summoned Demophilus and urged him to either accept the Orthodox faith or yield his position to another. Demophilus, hardened in heart, chose to lose his throne rather than abandon his errors. Then the emperor gave Saint Gregory the Theologian and the entire host of Orthodox the cathedral church, which the Arians had held for forty years, along with all the other churches. When God's Bishop Gregory, along with the clergy and people, was about to enter the church, a crowd of Arians, armed as if for war, stood outside the church, blocking the Orthodox from entering, and threatened the saint with death. The Arians hired a brave and daring youth to quietly approach Gregory and plunge a sword into his belly; but God saved His faithful servant. Then a clamor, noise, and murmuring arose among the Arians. They would certainly have inflicted violence and harm on the Orthodox, had not the emperor himself appeared and ushered the holy bishop into the church. The Orthodox, however, cried out with great joy and gladness, glorifying God, shedding tears of ecstasy and raising their hands aloft. Indeed, after so many years, they had regained their holy relic! They unanimously appealed to the emperor, asking him to elevate Gregory the Theologian to the patriarchal throne. Saint Gregory, too weakened by his constant physical ailments and unable to address the people, declared through one of his clerics, in the face of the general outcry:
"Children! Now is the time for thanksgiving and glorification to the One God in Trinity, Who has granted us the gift of receiving His Holy Church once again. Therefore, let us now glorify His great mercies, and we will think about the patriarchal throne later, at another time."
The people, having heard the saint's answer, ceased shouting. Then, after the Liturgy, everyone dispersed, glorifying God; the Arians, however, fell silent, shamed.
The Blessed Emperor Theodosius greatly respected Saint Gregory the Theologian, as if he were his own father. However, he rarely visited the emperor, remembering well the words of Solomon: "Do not go often into your friend's house, lest he become weary of you and hate you" ( Prov. 25:17 ). The saint was always eager to instruct the people, visit and heal the sick, aid the oppressed, defend the weak, and purify his flock from heretical errors. He sometimes retreated to the villages, loving silence and seeking to heal his frequent illnesses with rest, thus preparing his body for further labors. Although he owned considerable church property, he did not appropriate a single silver coin for himself, nor did he question church builders about how much they had collected or spent. He considered the latter the responsibility not of a bishop, but of a secular ruler. He instructed everyone to maintain a clear conscience. Exhausted by incessant labor and his advanced age, he once fell ill and lay in bed. The people, learning of this, came to visit him. He sat up in bed and began to ask:
- What do you want, children? Why have you come to me?
Those who came bowed to him and thanked him for all his labors, for the fact that he had cleansed the city from heresy, for the fact that he had returned the holy churches, which had been in the hands of the Arians for many years, to the Orthodox, for the fact that he had done great good to everyone with his teaching and pastoral care.
“Now, father,” they said, “if you are going to God, then pray for your flock, for the faithful king, and for the whole Church.”
The saint declared that his illness was not fatal, and then, having instructed them according to custom, he dismissed them. As they began to disperse, only one youth remained, who, clinging to the saint's feet, tearfully and sobbingly begged him to forgive his sin. The saint asked what his sin was, but the youth made no reply, only wept and begged for forgiveness. One of those present said to the saint:
"This is your murderer, Father! At the instigation of heretics, he wanted to plunge a sword into your womb, but Christ protected you. Now he repents and asks for forgiveness."
The saint said to the young man:
"May our Lord Jesus Christ be merciful to you, beloved son, and forgive your sins. Only from now on, be ours; abandon heresy and turn to Christ God and serve Him faithfully."
So he released the youth, forgiving him. The entire city, learning of this, marveled at his meekness and was inflamed with even greater love for him. Soon after, bishops began to gather in Byzantium, partly to appoint a patriarch in the royal city, and partly to anathematize the heresies at the Second Ecumenical Council of 990. When one hundred and fifty Orthodox bishops had gathered, Saint Meletius of Antioch was elected president of the council . Then Saint Gregory the Theologian, against his will and with sorrow, although ill, accepted the patriarchal throne, agreeing to the requests of the emperor and all the people. A few days later, Saint Meletius, Patriarch of Antioch, fell ill and departed to the Lord. Bishops from Egypt and Macedonia soon arrived and began to express displeasure at Gregory's appointment as patriarch, especially since he had been elected in their absence. They claimed that this appointment was improper, since Gregory had been appointed not by the Patriarch of Alexandria, but by the Patriarch of Antioch. Meanwhile, the Patriarchal See of Alexandria is first after the Roman, and from it the appointment of the Patriarch of Constantinople should proceed. Great disagreements, unrest, and discord arose among the bishops: some said that Gregory's appointment was correct, while others objected. Moreover, the bishops quarreled among themselves. Saint Gregory the Theologian, seeing the discord and quarrels that had arisen among the bishops because of him, addressed them all in a council with the following words:
"I, holy and respected pastors," he said, "did not seek to gain power over the Church of Constantinople. If it has grown and become firmly established through my sweat and labors, then it is enough for me to please God and expect a reward from Him. Only the love of my faithful flock and the general judgment of the hierarchs compelled me to accept the throne; now I see the hostility of many toward me. Know then that I seek neither wealth nor high position nor honors; I do not wish to bear the title of Patriarch of Constantinople and resign the episcopacy without regret. You, however, consult among yourselves and do as you please. The desert has long been pleasant to me, and those who deprive us of the throne cannot deprive us of God."
Having said this, he left the patriarchal residence. He settled in a small house, far from the church, avoiding the conversations and arguments of those who came to him. However, many of the people came to him, asking him to show mercy to his flock and not abandon them, after he had nurtured and increased them with so much labor and perseverance.
"Show, father," they said, "your affection for your children, for whom you have labored so much; dedicate the rest of your days to them, so that we, enlightened by your teaching, may have your body after your death."
Saint Gregory, like a loving father, softened his heart and, wondering what to do, asked God to show him the path of life.
When the number of assembled bishops increased, and the discord and disagreements among them still continued, Blessed Gregory, standing in the middle of the council, addressed them with a speech:
My fellow shepherds and elders in the stewardship of Christ's holy flock! Shame on you, who teach others to maintain peace, to engage in discord among yourselves! How can you persuade others to concord and unanimity if you cannot agree with yourselves? But I beseech you before the consubstantial and Most Holy Trinity to establish peace and show mutual love for one another, so that you may arrange church affairs in complete harmony. If I am the cause of discord and disunity among you, then I am no more worthy than the prophet Jonah. Throw me overboard, and then your turmoil will cease. Although I am not to blame for this storm, I prefer to suffer, if that is what you wish. Only be reconciled among yourselves and be of one mind; dethrone me, drive me out of the city, but love only truth and peace, I say with the prophet Zechariah ( Zechariah 8:19 ). I wish you good health, holy shepherds! Do not forget my labors!
When he delivered this speech, all his opponents were ashamed and moved by his words. The saint, leaving the council, decided to return to his homeland and went to ask the Tsar to allow him to return.
He said to the king:
"Tsar! May Christ reward you on the Day of Judgment for all your blessings to the Church. But do not refuse me, sovereign ruler, the favor I now ask of you: I ask neither for property nor for relatives; I seek no costly altar coverings, but only the easing of my labors. May this end the envy of many; may your efforts lead the bishops to harmony! You, who have removed the insolence of the barbarians, remove also the discord of the bishops. Adorn your victorious realm with this one thing: that the bishops may achieve peace and harmony among themselves. This will be achieved if you release me to my homeland. This is the favor I ask of you; grant me this final favor.
The king was struck by the saint's words and shed tears. The dignitaries present also shed tears. Everyone felt a strong love for the saint and did not want to let him go. He, however, sometimes citing his old age and constant illness, sometimes pointing to the discord among the bishops arising because of him, continued to plead with the king and finally convinced him not to detain him but to let him go wherever he wished, so that he could spend the rest of his days in peace and rest from his many labors. Released by the king, he bid farewell to everyone and bestowed good wishes of peace on his wise sheep. As he departed the city, all the people accompanied him and wept bitter tears. Immediately, several bishops who loved Saint Gregory and mourned him departed the city and, leaving the cathedral, each returned to his place of service. These included Gregory of Nyssa, brother of Basil the Great, Amphilochius of Iconium , Eulogius of Edessa, Helladius of Caesarea, Aetrios of Melitene, and many others. The remaining bishops at the council elected the senator Nectarius as patriarch .
Saint Gregory the Theologian withdrew to the Cappadocian region and settled in his hometown, the village of Arianzos. He rested there, being very weak. However, he did not abandon his labors for the glory of God: he found his native city of Nazianzus infected with the Apollinarian heresy and strove to cleanse it with both personal exhortations and his letters. When the citizens asked him to accept his father's throne, he refused, instead ordaining as their bishop a priest named Eulalia, a man zealous in the faith and pious. He himself remained in complete solitude in the village of Arianzos. After living there for some time and leaving behind many edifying writings , he, in his old age, departed to an ageless life on January 25, 993. He was buried with honors in the city of Nazianzus. Many years later, the pious Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus transferred his holy relics from Nazianzus to Constantinople and placed them in the Church of the Holy Apostles—for the aid and protection of the city and for the glory of Christ God, glorified forever with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Source: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Dmitrij_Rostovskij/zhitija-svjatykh/86