Macrina the Younger
| Macrina the Younger | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
c. 330 Caesarea, Cappadocia |
| Died |
19 July 379 Pontus |
| Honored in | Eastern Orthodox Church, Roman Catholic church, Eastern Catholic Churches, Lutheran Church, Anglican Communion |
| Feast |
July 19 |
Saint Macrina the Younger (c.330– 19 July 379) was a saint and one of the most prominent nuns of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Family
Macrina was born at Caesarea, Cappadocia. Her parents were Basil the Elder and Emmelia, and her grandmother was Saint Macrina the Elder. Among her nine siblings were two of the three Cappadocian Fathers, her younger brothers Basil the Great and Saint Gregory of Nyssa, as well as Peter of Sebaste. Her father arranged for her to marry but her fiance died before the wedding. She devoted herself to her religion, becoming a nun.
Macrina had a profound influence upon her brothers with her adherence to an ascetic ideal. Her brother Gregory of Nyssa wrote a work entitled Life of Macrina in which he describes her sanctity throughout her life. Gregory presents her as one who consciously rejected all Classical education, choosing instead devoted study of Scripture and other sacred writings.
In 379, Macrina died at her family's estate in Pontus, which with the help of her younger brother Peter she had turned into a monastery and convent. Gregory of Nyssa composed a "Dialogue on the Soul and Resurrection" (peri psyches kai anastaseos), entitled ta Makrinia (P.G. XLVI, 12 sq.), to commemorate Macrina, in which Gregory purports to describe the conversation he had with Macrina on her deathbed, in a literary form modelled on Plato's Phaedo.[1] Her feast day is the 19 July.
Legacy
Universalists, including Hosea Ballou and J. W. Hanson, claim Macrina as a Universalist in her teachings, citing works which they believe demonstrate Macrina's belief that the wicked would all eventually confess Christ.[2][3][4]
Notes
- ↑ Susan Ashbrook Harvey, 'Women and words', in Frances Young, Lewis Ayres, Andrew Louth, eds, The Cambridge History of Early Christian Literature, (2010), p385
- ↑ Hosea Ballou The ancient history of universalism p 173 "His grandmother, Macrina, under whom he received his juvenile education, and his first impressions of piety, had been, in her youth, a hearer of Gregory Thaumaturgus, in Pontus ; for whom she inspired her young scholar with a profound and lasting veneration. "
- ↑ J. W. Hanson Universalism: The Prevailing Doctrine of the Christian Church 1889 p 105
- ↑ Note: the clause 'in purgatory' was removed because of its biased nature. Disputes between Catholic and Orthodox Churches about the literal existence of purgatory are ongoing.
References
- A. M. Silvas, Macrina the Younger. Philosopher of God, Turnhout, 2008, Brepols Publishers, ISBN 978-2-503-52390-3
- Nester, Marie Yaroshak. We Are God's People, God With Us Publications, 2004, p. 99.
- Burrus, V. "Macrina's Tattoo," in D. B. Martin and P. Cox Miller (eds), The Cultural Turn in Late Ancient Studies: Gender, Asceticism, and Historiography (Durham (NC), 2005), 103-116.
Ebook
- Gregory of Nyssa, Life of Macrina, London, 2012. limovia.net ISBN 978-1-78336-017-8
External links
- Gregory of Nyssa, Life of Macrina
- Gregory of Nyssa, Dialogue on the Soul and Resurrection
- "St. Macrina, Virgin", Butler's Lives of the Saints
- Macrina the Younger
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"St. Macrina the Younger". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913.