Abba Ho PaterSources
St Gregory of Nyssa
Bishop of Nyssa
Γρηγόριος Νύσσης
Gregory, bishop of Nyssa and brother of Basil the Great, one of the Cappadocian Fathers, attended the Council of Constantinople in 381 and wrote the Great Catechism.
- Born
- c. 335/336
- Died
- probably 395
- Feast
- 26 Hathor · Coptic commemoration per Wikipedia; the Byzantine Church keeps 10 January.
- Era
- 4th century
- See
- Nyssa in Cappadocia (Bishop)
Life
Gregory was born about 335 or 336, most probably at Caesarea in Cappadocia; his elder brother Basil was his teacher, and Macrina and Peter of Sebaste were also his siblings [1][2]. He accepted the office of reader, left it to become a rhetorician, and under his sister Macrina's influence retired to Basil's monastery in Pontus [1].
Basil forced him into the see of Nyssa despite his protests [1], about 372 according to Wikipedia [2]. Accused of embezzlement, he was deposed and banished in 376 and returned after Valens's death in 378 [1][2]. He attended the Council of Constantinople in 381, bringing part of his treatise against Eunomius [1].
NPNF puts his death probably in 395 [1]. In chapter 32 of the Great Catechism he reads the four-armed shape of the Cross as a figure of the One who binds all things together in himself [4].
Where the sources disagree
Birth: c. 335/336 at Caesarea (NPNF), c. 335 probably near Neocaesarea in Pontus (Wikipedia EN), 335 or c. 330 (AR). Consecration: 372 (EN), 373 (AR); NPNF gives no year. Death: c. 394 (EN), 395 (NPNF, AR).
Timeline
Works
Words by topic
The Mystery of the Cross and the Unity of All in God
Apologist Fathers1
Topics cited in
Notes
Bibliography
- NPNF2-05, Prolegomena: Sketch of the Life of S. Gregory of Nyssa — Standard English translation with a biographical introduction.
- Wikipedia (EN), Gregory of Nyssa — Cross-check.
- Wikipedia (AR), غريغوريوس أسقف نيصص — Cross-check.
- NPNF2-05, The Great Catechism, ch. XXXII — The chapter quoted on the site.