Wednesday, August 5

Golden Age · 329 – 390

St Gregory the Theologian

Archbishop of Constantinople, called the Theologian

Son of the bishop of Nazianzus in Cappadocia, he studied at Athens with his dearest friend Basil the Great and wanted nothing more than contemplative quiet — a desire life kept overruling. Ordained priest and later consecrated bishop almost against his will, he was called in 379 to Constantinople, then dominated by Arians, where in the small chapel of the Anastasia he preached the Five Theological Orations that earned him the title 'the Theologian,' shared by only two other saints. His defense of the full divinity of the Son and the Holy Spirit set the terms for the Second Ecumenical Council in 381, over which he briefly presided as archbishop before resigning amid church politics with the words 'I was not aware that I was expected to rival consuls.' He spent his last years writing poetry and letters on his family estate, and reposed in 390.

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