Life of St. Macrina

Ken McGuire
Ken McGuire Member Posts: 2,074 ✭✭✭
edited November 20 in English Forum

I have a weakness for Christian Biography/Hagiography. At one level, it tells the story of the saint that has gone before us and is at rest. But at another level, it is THE STORY of salvation in Christ.

Sometimes they are filled with cliches. But quite often they are more. In this case, the story is written by one of Macrina's famous brothers, namely Gregory of Nyssa - one of the most important theologians of the last half of the 4th century. And he uses his great gifts in rhetoric to tell this tale of how it was this sister who was the one God used to bring her famous brothers into their church careers, and was indeed a model of the faith for them. And not only for her brothers, she also was a model for many women as an Abbess.

And besides these theological concerns, it is also an important source for the role of Women in the early church, the history of monasticism, as well as how the church was reaching into the upper classes in the 4th century.

A later translation is included in https://www.logos.com/product/120402/saint-gregory-of-nyssa-ascetical-works but to the best of my knowledge this earlier English translation has not been released for Logos. If you like this work, do buy the above, or https://www.logos.com/product/31322/on-the-soul-and-the-resurrection where Gregory records his dialogue with Macrina on the afterlife - a dialogue where Macrina is the master and Gregory the student... (This dialogue is also included in the first book linked as well).

For cover, I used the painting of Macrina at https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=714

SDG,

Ken McGuire

The Gospel is not ... a "new law," on the contrary, ... a "new life." - William Julius Mann

L8 Anglican, Lutheran and Orthodox Silver, Reformed Starter, Academic Essentials

L7 Lutheran Gold, Anglican Bronze

Tagged:

Comments

Categories