January 10

Saint Gregory of Nyssa

Roman Martyrology · Remembered by Catholics, Anglicans and Lutherans

Taught that the journey into God never ends

Gregory was born around 335 in Cappadocia, in what is now central Turkey, into a family of remarkable believers: his older brother was Basil the Great and his older sister was Macrina. He first worked as a teacher of rhetoric, until Basil and their friend Gregory of Nazianzus urged him to give his life to the service of the Church.

In 372 Basil made him bishop of the small town of Nyssa. Gregory was a better thinker than administrator. Opponents of the Nicene faith accused him of mishandling church funds, and in 376 he was driven from his see. He returned two years later, and in 381 he took part in the Council of Constantinople, defending the belief that Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one God. He died around 395.

He wrote a tender Life of his sister and The Life of Moses, which describes faith as a climb that never ends. In one sermon he condemned slavery outright, something very rare in his time.

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:13–14 · BSB

A prayer

God of endless goodness, you gave your servant Gregory a mind that searched your mystery and a heart that kept reaching toward you. Keep us from settling for a small faith; draw us forward, step by step, into your love, and teach us to honour the dignity of every person. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.